Stepping Stones
by darkshadow229
Summary: Double D thinks his life is a nightmare when he has to spend time with Marie Kanker. However, he learns that it just takes one stone to step on in order to make a path.
1. The Assignment

Stepping Stones

**Hey, readers! This is my new fanfic! It's called Stepping Stones.**

**Benny: Really? That's the title you decide to go with for this one?**

**Yes. Why is it called Stepping Stones? Well, you'll see...**

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><p>Eddward Kelner seemed pretty happy with the way his day was going. He had met up with his friends Ed and Eddy, had gotten another nice compliment from Nazz, got a A on his English test and had managed to avoid the Kankers. If only he had more days like these...<p>

Double D heard the bell ring as he went into his English class. Everything seemed well. Double D sat down in his seat before he recalled that this class had its students sat in alphabetical order. That meant his seat was in the row right behind the Kankers.

Double D thought "Now, calm down, Eddward. It's only for English and there's just a few months left in the semester. Once the school year ends, I may not be able to revise what I learned but I will be able to avoid Marie Kanker."

His long internal monologue was interrupted by Miss Parker who said "Alright, as you know, we have only a month before your report cards go out. So I'll be giving you a project to do in pairs."

Some students smiled or listened patiently while others high-fived or fist-bumped each other. Ms. Parker raised an eyebrow at that with a knowing smirk, but said nothing.

Ms. Parker continued "You're going to be writing a short story, a poem or a one-page monologue on the person you're paired up with. I'm going to be choosing the pairs so don't seem so happy. You have two weeks to do it, which is plenty of time for most, if not all of you. You're eighth graders and since most of you seem to do only average in this class, I don't except any masterpieces. But I do except for you to at least hand something in." before she glanced at the Kankers for a few seconds.

Ms. Parker said "Here are the pairs. Mike Albert and Lucas Schweniski. Charlie Barker and Lauren Douglas. Noah McDonald and Henry Lincoln. Jonny Foreson and Fahima Albaf. Natalie Rosari and Eduardo Morris."

Double D turned back to look at Eddy, who seemed like he was the luckiest guy in the world. Who could blame him? He got to work with Nazz, one of the most beautiful girls in the school. Something that most other guys would kill for. Speaking of Eddy, Lee Kanker didn't look very happy about it.

Lee gritted her teeth and said "That little blond sk-" before she was silenced with a glare from Miss Parker.

Ms. Parker replied "Lee, if you're not satisfied at the pairings, that is your opinion but don't swear in school."

Lee silently obeyed but muttered "She's gonna get what's coming to her."

Ms. Parker continued calling out the pairs " Sarah Ronado and Kelly Sadner. Edward Ronado and Peter Hernandez. Chang Lau and May Kanker. Lee Kanker and Rolf Dalgaard. Eddward Kelner and Marie Kanker."

Double D felt all the blood rush out of his face, making it turn a pasty white. He was going to spend at least two weeks with Marie Kanker. Three weeks trying to get inside the mind of the girl who chased him every other day, beat up little kids and terrorized the Cul-de-Sac in order to get an A plus.

It wasn't his ideal choice. Hell, Double D would have picked Kevin over Marie Kanker.

Double D thought "Maybe I could talk to Ms. Parker about changing partners once the lesson is over."

He had tuned out Ms. Parker in his shock, surprise and horror so he managed to return to listen to her just in time to hear " If you are unhappy with any of the options you have for the project, I have a fourth option."

Ms. Parker walked to the front of the room where on her desk, there were at least ten camcorders.

She continued "If you choose the fourth option, you will have to record your partner and their daily life. But that's not just all you do. Try to get to know them. See what they see. Hear what they hear."

The bell rang and the students started to leave the classroom. Double D got up and walked over to Ms. Parker.

Double D asked happily " Excuse me, . Could I talk to you about my partner?"

Ms. Parker brushed away a curl of her chestnut hair before she answered "Sure, Eddward. What is it?"

Double D felt nervous. How did he know if she would give him help? Or if she'd listen?

Double D thought "No, I have to do this. I have to conquer my nerves."

Double D asked "I hope you don't mind me asking, Ms. Parker. Could I change partners?"

Ms. Parker answered "Eddward, I paired you and Marie up for a reason. You're a good student and you answer several questions in my class. Marie gets decent grades but her behavior leaves much to be desired. She may not be the most welcoming student but you just might be able to help her."

Double D nodded and said "Thank you for answering my question, Ms. Parker." before he looked at the camcorders.

Ms. Parker handed Double D two camcorders and replied "You could give the second one to Marie. Just please remember to return them before the end of the quarter."

Double D nodded and answered "Thank you, Ms. Parker. I'll make sure that Marie gets hers." with a slightly downturned smile as he left the classroom.

Externally, Double D seemed calm. But internally, he was freaking out. This seemed like a nightmare. In fact, it must have been. Him and Marie Kanker together for three weeks. Maybe he'll wake up any minute now.

Double D thought "No, I can't think like that. I have to be positive and optimistic. I mean, Marie can be slightly wild and irrational but what is the worst that can happen?"

He looked around the hallway. Double D didn't know which locker Marie had or if she even had one. He didn't even know who to ask about it.

He went over to Kevin and asked "Pardon me, Kevin but have you seen Marie? I have to give her one of these camcorders."

Kevin answered "Hey, Double D. Heard you got stuck with Marie Kanker. That sucks but yeah, I saw her go down into the boiler room with her sisters."

Double D nodded and replied "Thank you, Kevin." as he headed for the boiler room in the basement.

After several turns and stairways, Double D ended up at the basement and he turned the corner to see the door to the boiler room.

Double D gulped. He felt nervous and relieved at the same time. Nervous since he was about to step into the Kankers' realm and relieved because he could just hand Marie the camcorder and leave to find Ed and Eddy.

He slowly opened the door and began to descend down the stairs into the boiler room.

Double D called out "Marie? Hello? Is anyone here?" as he noticed a shadow in a dimly lit corner.

Marie stepped in front of him, wearing a blue hoodie and short jeans with a evil smirk on her face.

Marie said "Ah, if isn't my boyfriend. Looks like you came to bring me something. Was it money?"

Double D sighed as quietly as he could and replied "N-No, it's a camcorder for our project."

Marie carefully grabbed the white camcorder out of Double D's hands and put it in her hoodie pocket.

Marie replied "Well, it was nice of you to bring me a present. Since we're gonna be spending a lot more time together, I'll see you tomorrow." before she kissed Double D on the cheek.

Double D took little to no time leaving with his own camcorder. He shuddered and rubbed his cheek as he began to wonder about what Marie was planning on. But other than planning to ambush him and kiss him again, he had no idea. But Double D did know one thing.

This was going to be a _long_ month.

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><p><strong>That's Stepping Stones!<strong>

**Benny: Eh. Not so interesting.**

**It may not seem so interesting at first but as time goes on, it will be.**


	2. Day 1: Double D

Stepping Stones chapter 2

**OK, we'll be alternating chapters from here on in. So this chapter is Double D's POV, next chapter is Marie's and so on.**

**Benny: Of course, start with Double D. So even-numbered is him and odd-numbered is Marie? Makes sense.**

**Just a little warning, I'll go into third person near the end. You'll know when you see the second line break.**

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><p>It was a warm, lovely and calm Saturday morning so I decided to do the first recording outside at the playground. It may have been a weekend but most of the kids were probably at the lane so I could record Marie without there being any disturbance.<p>

At 10 am, I headed over to the playground with my camcorder in my bag and a indifferent look on my face. But honestly, I felt nervous and a little scared. Ms. Parker wasn't exactly lying when she said that Marie wasn't the most welcoming person. Last year, she nearly clawed Lauren Douglas' face because Lauren bought my homework when I was sick with the flu.

How would she react to me attempting to find out everything about her? How would she react to the reality of it all being filmed for her peers to see, examine and analyze? I wasn't sure and I tried to stay calm but I had one or two warning bells going off in my head.

I went through the playground fence and saw Marie, in a purple graphic T-shirt and dark green camouflaged pants, sitting on one of the swings.

I walked over to her, sat across from her on a tree stump and began setting up. I unzipped the backpack and took out the camcorder before I turned it on.

I asked "You're pretty early. How long were you here before I came here?"

Marie answered "I showed up here an hour ago. I was getting bored until you showed up, Double D. But seeing you, it seems worth it all."

I sighed. I had a notebook page that I filled with questions that I wrote the night before. I checked it over twice, just to make sure that nothing I asked made Marie vexed.

She gave me a mischievous smirk before she crossed her legs and said "OK, sweetheart, I'm ready."

I replied "How old are you?"

She answered affectionately "I just turned 14 but you already know that since you're so smart. By the way, thanks for the birthday present."

I slightly blushed out of mild embarrassment. Marie turned 14 two weeks ago and despite our history, I decided to send her a gift in the meaning of goodwill. I knew that she liked to play the guitar so I got her a guitar pick. I wrapped it up along with a IPhone and left the package at her trailer. But I didn't think that Marie knew that I was the one who left it.

I responded with "Y-You're welcome, Marie. Where do you live?"

Marie began to slowly swing herself as she answered "You know that too, actually. Everybody does. But hell with it, I'll still answer it. Prickly Pines Trailer Park."

I tried not to wince outwardly as I thought "I think that definitely means that she's heard the comments the other kids make about her and her sisters."

The other children at school had made comments about the Kankers living at Prickly Pines and "trailer trash" was a common insult that they muttered under their breaths. It sounded horrible and even if Marie was a bully, she didn't deserve to be called trailer trash.

I replied "What's your favorite type of music?"

She rolled her eyes before she responded with "Double D, you already know this. Why would you need to ask all of these questions?"

I took a deep breath and said "I don't know everything about you and the other kids definitely don't know much about you."

She coldly replied "They know enough to make rumors about me and call me trailer trash."

Oh no, she did know. That wasn't good but perhaps I could have calmed her down and reasoned with her. So that was what I did.

I replied "Marie, some other students might do that because they feel jealous of you or angry at you. Wouldn't talking about your life and revealing more of who you are to everyone prove them wrong?"

I thought "This just might work. On the other hand, it could backfire and make her more angry." as my worst fears began to come to light in my mind.

Marie replied "Fine, I'll keep on doing this. But for you and also because if I'm gonna do this stupid project, I might as well do it with my boyfriend."

Marie continued "My favorite genre is rock, of course but I'll listen to anything as long as it isn't Justin Bieber or One Direction. I tried to listen to One Direction, just once and I turned it off in the first twenty seconds. It was that awful."

I chuckled. I wasn't a large fan of pop either as I preferred classical music. However, I would listen to anything other than pop.

Marie smirked at me and said "I'll take that as an agreement with me. Looks like we just have something in common, after all. Well, something other than guitars."

I replied coolly "What we have in common is that you like me, we both have a severe dislike of pop music and we are partners in doing this project. But I suppose that I could add guitars to that list."

I continued "Who do you live with?"

Marie answered "I live with my mom, May and Lee. I see my dad, I mean, Butch once a month. He tries to get me to "bond" with him and his new family. But I know that he's just trying to make up for Mom leaving him and all the time he lost. Butch knows that he has to make up for lost time so he just wants to get the thought of not getting to spend time with his daughter off his conscience."

Marie continued "As for my mom, she works a lot. A full time job, 5 to 9, you know that kind of thing. She leaves before I get up and she comes home just before I fall asleep. She manages to take care of us. Make sure we're fed, dressed and everything else. Even helps us with our homework on her days off. For May and Lee, you know about them. We fight sometimes but we're family. Believe it or not, the Kankers stand together, cheer together and fight together."

I asked "What about other relationships? Friends, a boyfriend?"

Marie answered "My only friends around here are May and Lee. As for a man, I've got you, sweetheart. But I did have one guy before, Justin. He was kind of strong but overprotective. I didn't like him too much but Justin was alright. He dumped me when I made him miss a shot in a basketball game. Our school was in the regional finals that season."

I replied "How did you feel when he dumped you?"

Marie responded with "Look, Double D, I'm a Kanker. We don't cry, watch movies and eat ice cream like any other girl would have. We get up, dust ourselves off and move on. There were other guys that I've met, like you. Justin and I weren't even in a relationship."

I asked "What do you think classifies as a relationship, then?"

Marie answered "In order to be in a relationship, both people gotta love each other and be committed. Justin wasn't either. He messed around with other girls, so he wasn't committed. He definitely didn't love me because he either ignored me or treated me like his dog. Justin just wanted to impress his little jock friends by hanging out with the school's rebel girl. I was committed. I didn't really love Justin but I was willing to make it work."

At that point, I had a few more questions for Marie.

I thought "OK, a few more questions for her and then I'll be done for the day."

I asked "What grade are you in?"

Marie answered "Eighth grade so I'll be in high school with everyone else this fall."

I asked "Do you participate in any extracurricular activities? Sports, music, etc?"

Marie answered "I suppose taking kids' cash or punching people wouldn't count as one. I play my electric guitar at home. Does that count?"

I replied "You don't play it at school so it wouldn't count."

Marie shrugged before she said "That's a no, then. Any more questions?"

I asked "Just one. What do you plan to be when you get older?"

Marie answered "Probably not a suit, that's for sure. Either a computer hacker or a musician. I could see myself playing bass in front of a large, sold out audience or stealing 50 grand from some businessman's back account." with a grin on her face.

I said "That's all of them, Marie. I'll see you near the river tomorrow morning."

Marie pouted before she responded with "Aww, I have to wait until tomorrow to be with you? Well, for you, I can wait."

I turned off the camcorder and put it back in my backpack. Marie dusted herself off and got off of the swing. We both split up and headed for our respective houses.

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><p>Marie slammed the door to the trailer closed with a small smile on her face. She went through a day getting interviewed by her boyfriend. Tomorrow, it was going to be her turn.<p>

Lee looked up from the TV and asked "That was fast. How was it?"

Marie answered "I talked to him and I get to interview him tomorrow."

Marie knew one thing. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.


	3. Day 2: Marie

Stepping Stones chapter 3

**Now Marie gets to interview Double D. I wonder how he'll react to her questions?**

**Benny: That depends. What are Marie's questions, anyway?**

**You have to read and see, Benny. Remember to review and give your thoughts on the chapter!**

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><p>Another boring Sunday in this dump of a town. I had to make myself look decent for Double D so I blow dried and brushed my hair, put on a denim jacket with a black T-shirt and jeans before I shoved on my black Converses and headed out to meet him. I told him to go to the playground where we were yesterday.<p>

I grabbed the camcorder too. As much as I love spending time with my sweetheart, I have to get this stupid film done. But being with him is one advantage of it so doing this couldn't be that bad, right?

I shoved the camcorder into my jacket pocket and headed out to the playground. It was a Sunday so there wouldn't be any brats running around, trying to bother us or stop me from being near Double D.

I headed through the gate and saw Double D, patiently sitting on a tree stump and he said that I'm pretty early. From the looks of it, he was there for at least an hour or two.

I thought "Hmm, why don't I surprise him? He hasn't noticed me yet."

I snuck up behind him as quietly as I could and covered his eyes with my hands.

I smirked and said "Guess who."

Double D sighed and replied "I know it's you, Marie. Now's let not waste any more time."

I said "Fine, I'll set up." before I took out the camcorder and turned it on.

I sat on one of the swings, pointed the camcorder at Double D and hit the record button.

I asked "OK, sweetheart. If you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be?"

Double D hesitated before he answered "The power to heal people. I'd heal the sick, the starving and the injured."

It was a good answer. But I still wondered about it. What if he couldn't get that superpower?

I asked with a smile "Nice, boyfriend. But what if you couldn't get that power? What would be your next choice?"

Double D answered "Mind reading and control. If you had the control of somebody's mind, you could make them do anything."

I guess he had a point there. If that was an actual power, I'd probably be using it everyday. On to my next question and Double D will have to answer it.

I asked with a evil smirk "Boxers or briefs?"

Double D sighed and said "Please tell me you're joking."

I shook my head with a pseudo-apologetic look on my face.

I pointed the camcorder at his face and replied "You're gonna have to answer it, Double D." while trying not to let him see my smile.

Double D answered with a deep blush "Boxers. Can we please proceed to a more appropriate- and less personal- question?"

I asked "What are you good at?"

He answered "Science, memorization, writing, reading, algebra, geometry, technology and engineering."

I said casually "Speaking of technology, I was a little surprised that you got me an IPhone."

Double D replied with surprise "You were?"

I answered "Yep. I thought that you would have made something out of pieces of junk you had in your garage. That would have been way more impressive coming from you."

Double D looked down at the ground awkwardly and said "I will admit that I had made something like that for your birthday. But I thought that you wouldn't have really wanted it. I mean, you weren't exactly fond of homemade gifts."

I replied "Actually, I am. As long as it doesn't suck, like Lee's casserole. How would you describe yourself?"

Double D answered "I would describe myself as intelligent, law-abiding, calm, reasonable and creative."

I smirked and responded with "Ah, just what I want in a man. Guess we are compatible. Have you ever been in a relationship before?"

Double D blushed before he answered "Er, if you mean a romantic relationship, then no. I suppose that I am simply waiting for the right person or the right time."

I grinned and asked "Who do you live with?"

Double D answered "I live with my mother and father in a house here. I am a only child, as far as I know. My mother and father are very busy but they do love me."

I raised an eyebrow and replied "They love you and they show it through sticky notes?"

The look on his face turned to panic and I said "Chill out, sweetheart. The girls and I haven't told anybody. I wouldn't want to embarrass my future husband, especially just to impress a bunch of losers."

He looked down at the ground again before he looked back up at me and replied "Thank you."

I nodded and asked "If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you be?"

Double D answered "That would be a very hard answer. But probably London. It seems like a great city, full of knowledge. Either there or Washington D.C. What about you, Marie?"

I answered "No idea but anywhere but here sounds good. Maybe New York or Toronto or even Tokyo."

I then asked "If you could name three of your best friends, who would they be?"

Double D answered "Ed would be one, Eddy would be another and I don't have a third. You or Jonny would be the closest thing."

I asked with a raised eyebrow "What is the closest thing?"

Double D answered "The closest thing is an associate. It's somebody that you talk to and encounter a lot but isn't a friend yet, like you or Jonny."

I pouted and asked "So all I am is an associate. Oh well, I'll work my way up. Where would you see yourself in 5 or 10 years, sweetheart?"

Double D answered "I see myself most likely in London, working as a scientist, working as a computer engineer or a mechanic somewhere or in Washington D.C., working as a businessman. We already know where you see yourself, Marie."

I replied "Hey, being a musician probably brings more money than being a computer engineer. It definitely gives more money than being a mechanic at some body shop in the middle of nowhere."

I asked "Would you see yourself as a family man or just someone with a girlfriend in that scenario?"

Double D answered "Is this interview for a dating service or a film project?"

I rolled my eyes and replied "Our project. Now just answer it."

Double D answered "Honestly, I could see myself settling down with someone and having children. On the other hand, if my future career requires me to move around a lot, I wouldn't want to have to put my children through that."

I asked "Where are you from?"

Double D answered "America or this country."

I replied "You know what you mean, Double D."

Double D answered "My hometown is a place that I wouldn't want to talk about. I hope you don't mind."

I shrugged and asked "Hey, I'm OK with that. Do you play any sports?"

Double D answered "I only play sports in the physical education class at school. Other than that, no."

I asked "How about drama, music or any other stuff like that?"

Double D answered "I am in the school's poetry club, I am on the debate team and I work on the school newspaper."

I replied "You mean the Peach Creek Rag?"

Double D responded with "It's the Peach Creek Junior High News."

I asked "They might as well call it the Rag because that is what it is. Do you have any hobbies?"

Double D answered "I have many hobbies. Computers, debating, poetry, writing, reading, engineering, chemistry, solving problems."

I said "So you're basically the model student for any school?"

Double D replied "Well, you could say that. I think that I'm simply intelligent and that's all."

I asked "How do you feel about social issues, like stealing, corruption, cheating?"

Double D answered "I think that they are awful but that the person who committed them should have a second chance at redemption and to prove themselves."

Ah, so I just might have a chance with him after all. Well, I'm almost out of questions to ask him. Who knew? The great Marie Kanker would actually be stalled at what to ask her future husband.

I asked "Is there any particular memory from your childhood that you're fond of?"

Double D answered "Yes, there is. On my seventh birthday, my parents threw me a birthday party and my friends and classmates were invited. I had a chocolate fudge cake and ice cream as well as pizza. After we ate, I unwrapped my presents. My friends got me various presents from sneakers to a book on insects to a soccer ball. My aunt got me an ant farm while my mother and father gave me my first computer."

Double D continued "I can recall my aunt taking a picture of me with my mother and father. Just as she took the picture, my mom shoved a piece of cake into my father's face and all four of us laughed. It was one of my best birthdays ever."

I replied "Well, I'm out of questions. See you tomorrow, Double D." before I kissed him on the cheek and turned off the camcorder.

As I left the playground, smirking, I thought "Maybe we have more in common than he first thought."


	4. Day 3: Confrontation

Stepping Stones chapter 4

**Now we're back to Double D! Something important may happen in this chapter, depending on how it plays out.**

**Benny: Oh, now it's a "reality" show instead of a dramatic fanfic.**

**Nope, it's a fanfic. Read and review, folks!**

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><p>It was another Monday at Peach Creek Junior High and I was about to interview Marie Kanker for the second time. I honestly didn't know how anything was going to go out but I just assumed that it would be the same as the first time: me attempting to ask her questions about her life and her trying to flirt with me. But I simply had to talk to her again and see.<p>

I decided to interview Marie at lunchtime so that it wouldn't interfere with our schoolwork and I could talk to her without other people being around to gossip about it. I wouldn't care if they did spread rumors about me and Marie because they wouldn't be true.

The bell rang and we walked into the English class. I sat in my usual seat as always and patiently waited for Ms. Parker to arrive. I looked around the classroom and noticed that Eddy was sitting in his seat with his feet on top of his desk, smirking.

I said "Good morning, Eddy. How was your weekend?"

Eddy answered "It was great, Double D. I talked with Nazz and headed to her house. She showed me some of her stuff and then we chatted some more. So how was being stuck with one of the Kankers?"

I responded with "It was fine, thank you, Eddy. Marie had asked me some questions and kissed me on the cheek."

Eddy scoffed and replied "Figures that a Kanker would do that. Anyway, what are we supposed to be doing today?"

I answered "Ms. Parker most likely is going to give us a short story to read with our project partners and ask several questions."

Eddy raised an eyebrow and asked with a grin "Tell me something, Sockhead. Do you steal Ms. Parker's lesson plans or are you just guessing by now?"

I rolled my eyes with a smile of my own and answered "Eddy, you and I both know that I do not steal. I have a good memory, which isn't really necessary since she told us that on Friday."

Eddy shrugged and replied "Hey, I have better things to do than stay 5 extra minutes just to hear that."

Eddy then jokingly continued "Look, Double D, your girlfriend's here. Seems like she's in a good mood."

I rolled my eyes and responded with "Eddy, Marie isn't my girlfriend. She's simply my partner for this project and a classmate and friend."

I thought "A friend? Where did that come from? Well, maybe Eddy didn't notice."

Of course, he did. He might not always pay attention but unless they had either an incredibly short attention span or short term memory loss, there was no possible way that anyone could miss hearing that.

He grinned at me before he said "She's a friend now? I thought she was your associate. Unless…you think of her as more than a friend."

I lightly blushed as I responded with "Sorry to disappoint you, Eddy, but Marie and I are simply associates and project partners. We are nothing more, nothing less."

Eddy smirked and replied "Then why were you blushing?"

I stayed silent at that and glared at Eddy before I turned to see Marie in the row in front of me. She looked back at me with a smile.

She said "So when and where are we going to do this?"

I replied quietly "We'll do the interview during lunch. The location of it, I'll leave the choice to you. After all, we're partners in this project. Therefore, you're as much as responsible as I am."

Marie said "Hmm, I don't think I need my sisters or these idiots showing up. What do you think about the field behind the school?"

I responded with "That sounds like a good spot. Quiet, not usually frequented and it's away from the school so nobody would interrupt the interview."

Marie leaned back into her seat with a smirk as the bell rang, Ms. Parker walked in and class began. We had to read a short story about communication between people and the moral being that you shouldn't judge people simply because of their appearance, beliefs or how they initially seem to you.

Ms. Parker told us to go into our pairs so Marie sat next to me while she asked the class several questions.

Ms. Parker asked "In the story, Bastion said that he thought Amy was unusual because of her clothing, speech and beliefs. Can any of you tell me what this could be an example of ?"

A few students raised their hand, including me. Ms. Parker pointed to me.

I answered "Bastion's thoughts can be an example of xenophobia or just his fear consuming his emotions."

Ms. Parker said "That's a very good answer, Eddward. Now, Amy felt that Bastion was unaccepting of her and that he may have been an enemy rather than a friend or even just another classmate. When she actually gets to know Bastion, she feels the opposite. Does anyone know why that is?"

Several students raised their hands but Ms. Parker ignored them.

She looked around before she said "Marie?"

Marie looked up at Ms. Parker and answered "Amy felt like that because Bastion was a stranger to her just like she was to him. But when she actually gets to know him, she realizes that all of her emotions were based on fear and uncertainity."

Ms. Parker said "That's a good answer. Thank you, Marie. Now, you have no homework for today apart from continuing to do your project."

The other students cheered and smiled as the bell rang and kids began to leave. I walked out of the classroom with Ed and Eddy.

I thought "You know, I know how Bastion felt. Marie just seems like a stranger to me. But she isn't even just a stranger but one who has a deadly bark and a dangerous bite. No, Double D. Remember, you have to think positive about this or else, nothing good will come out of it."

I said to Ed and Eddy "Well, fellows, I'd love to proceed to the cafeteria with you but I have to do my interview with Marie."

Eddy smirked and replied "Enjoy your date, Sockhead. Just make sure that you bring some food back for us. Come on, Ed."

Ed replied with "Make sure the Kanker alien doesn't suck out your brains, Double D. I'm coming, Eddy!" as he ran after Eddy to the lunchroom.

I shook my head with a smile and thought "Maybe my life isn't so bad. I shouldn't be complaining. I should just be happy that I'm doing well in school and that I have a few friends that care about me, no matter what. Well, time to do this interview with Marie." as I headed out of the school.

I went over to the field behind the school and began to set up. I took my camcorder out of my book bag and also took my bagged lunch out as well. I began to eat as I waited for Marie to appear.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. Just after I finished eating my sandwich, Marie appeared wearing a short sleeved red polo and jeans. It looked like she was wearing some makeup, too.

I thought "She didn't have any of this on this morning. Just what is she planning?"

She smiled and said "Notice anything different?"

I replied "I do but I won't ask about it now." before I turned on the camcorder.

I asked "How do you feel about school?"

Marie shrugged and answered "I think of school like most other kids think of it. It's not that great but you have to go. The positives are that you get to see your friends, get free food and get to throw dodge balls at annoying girls that you don't like. Another positive would be meeting your boyfriend there."

I thought "Throwing dodge balls at people she doesn't like? Hmm…well, the Kankers do have a history of bullying and extortion. Let's see if she can handle a few questions on that."

I asked "How about bullying? What's your opinion on it?"

Marie answered casually "Personally, I'm just OK with it but it's natural. If you're not strong enough or even make an effort to stop it, then you just brought it down on yourself."

I thought "I'm not sure why I feel surprised at that revelation. I mean, she and her sisters attacked the other Cul-de-Sac kids simply because they could."

I raised an eyebrow before I asked "Have you had any personal experiences with bullying?"

Marie answered "Yes, sweetheart, I have. I have bullied, manipulated, extorted and attacked other people. But like my mom said, do what you could to survive."

I responded with "Do you have any regrets about your bullying?"

Marie shrugged and replied "Not really. They let me bully them instead of standing up to me or even pleading so they deserved everything they got."

I raised an eyebrow and said "Is that so?"

Marie responded with "Yeah. Why?"

I said "It's wrong. You shouldn't bully people because you think they're weak or defenseless. It's horrible and even worse, you knew that it was wrong. You just decided to bully and manipulate other kids anyway."

Marie glared at me and replied "At least I give them a chance to stand up to me. But they won't because they're too scared of little, old me. Maybe you have a problem with what I do, Double D. But nobody does."

I responded angrily "Yes, they do. They're too afraid to tell a teacher but maybe not a sibling or a friend. Everybody knows what you do and who you are. You act this way but nobody knows why. When somebody tries to actually be honest with you, you either mask it with your flirtatious behavior or strike out at them like you're doing to me. The issue you have, Marie, is that you have alethephobia."

Marie shouted "You know what, Double D. I don't have a problem with telling the truth. I don't have a problem with being upright and honest about what I do and who I am."

In my anger, I shouted back "You don't have a problem with telling the truth, Marie! You have a problem with hearing it!"

I thought "I have to be rational. Shouting at her won't cause anything but problems."

I lowered my voice and said "I think you're afraid with hearing the truth because that would make you realize the wall you made is going to break eventually."

Marie sighed and replied "What do you want from me, Double D? For me to be a loud, annoying brat like Ed's sister or a stuck-up, preppy hussy like Nazz?"

Ignoring the insults she made towards Nazz and Sarah, I responded with "Nobody's asking for you to change your personality, Marie. You have to change your behavior and I can't do that for you. Nobody could. But if you did, even if it was just a little, maybe more people would like you. Maybe you wouldn't be feared and hated by everyone else. Maybe the teachers wouldn't think of you as a troublemaker."

I thought "Maybe I would like you as more than a friend."

I turned off the camcorder and put it back into my backpack. I looked at Marie who was sitting on the grass, her hands folded together and with an annoyed look on her face. I wondered who she was annoyed with. Me for shouting at her and trying to judge her? Ms. Parker for setting up this whole thing up? Herself for not thinking about the consquences of her actions? I felt guilty at what I had done. I could have just told her this in a gentle, polite manner without criticizing her or yelling at her.

I thought "Marie's personality isn't the issue. It's just how she treats people. If she changed her bullying ways, even if it's step by step like building a stone bridge, I'd be OK with that."

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><p>Marie lay down in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She thought about the horrible day she had. Then she thought about Double D. She always thought of him as her boyfriend. That argument was horrible but she felt bad.<p>

A part of her thought "Why? Is it because he isn't your little fantasy anymore or because he actually had a point?"

Double D was right. She didn't have to change her personality to get his attention and affection. She just had to change her bullying behavior. Not just for Double D but for herself too. Maybe it wouldn't be a smooth ride and it may be a long, bumpy road but Marie vowed that moment that she would redeem herself.

"I will change." Marie thought.


	5. Day 4: Difficulty

Stepping Stones chapter 5

**We're with Marie again! So let's see how this is going to play out.**

**Benny: Don't you already know?**

**Maybe but sometimes the story writes itself. Read and review!**

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><p>I woke up in my twin bed this morning with a sigh. My blue hair was a mess and it was only 6 am. I felt like I wanted to scream but it would come out silent. Yesterday sucked and I just wanted today to be better.<p>

But first, I had to get up, take a shower and get dressed.

I thought _'I have to look good for Double D.' _as I hurriedly struggled to get out of bed.

After a five minute long shower, I put on a blue T-shirt with a yellow star on it, a pair of jeans and a black hoodie.

I brushed and combed my hair before I put on a pair of red Converses. I ran down the stairs to get to the kitchen. The breakfast at school wasn't all that good and at least Mom, May and Lee's food tasted decent even if it left you with a stomachache. I slipped into the kitchen and was surprised. Mom, for the first time in a while, was cooking pancakes at the stove with a white, slightly greasy apron on and her chestnut hair tied into a ponytail.

Mom hadn't been cooking for us for quite a while so it was both a shock and relief to see her making breakfast. I mean, I love Lee but there are only so many ways that you could use spices in a breakfast dish.

I smiled and said "Morning, Mom."

Mom smiled back at me and replied cheerfully "Good morning, Marie. I'm making pancakes, eggs and bacon. What do you want to eat?"

I answered "I'll just have a few pancakes with bacon." before I grabbed a plate from the draining board and started to put my food on it.

I thought _'Mom seems to be in a pretty good mood but she definitely wasn't like that just a few days ago. What changed?'_

Of course, I had enough courage to ask "So why have you been in such a good mood lately?"

Mom looked at me, confused and answered "What do you mean?"

I shrugged and replied "You just look and sound a lot more positive than you did a few days ago. So what's the cause?"

Mom raised her eyebrow at me and said "Things have been going well for me. I just got a promotion at work and I've been going out to the gym lately. For your information, do I need a reason to be happy?"

I responded with "You didn't want to get out of bed just a couple days ago. So who is this new guy you've got and when are we going to meet him?"

Mom replied "There's no new guy, Marie. I told you I'm happy because things have been better recently. While we're talking about romance, when am I going to meet that nice boy you're always talking about with your sisters?"

I lightly blushed before I said coolly "I don't know what you mean, Mom. Double D is just my partner for an English project."

Mom responded with "You could say that if you want, Marie. But whoever you do end up with, I want to meet them someday."

I thought _'Oh, you'll meet him soon, Mom.' _but I let my smile turn to a look of indifference.

I said "Maybe you might, Mom." as I ate the pancakes and bacon.

May and Lee soon came into the kitchen to get something to eat. Lee ate eggs and bacon while May just had a couple pancakes.

I grabbed my backpack as I thought _'I might as well head off to school. If I want this to work, I'll have to step on a few stones first.'_

I said "Well, I'll be going to school now. Bye, Mom." as I gently hugged her.

Mom raised an eyebrow with a smirk and replied "You're going to school forty minutes early? I guess I'm not the only one who's doing better lately."

Lee scoffed as she grinned and said "Yeah right, Ma. She just wants to get there early so that she could have some time alone with her boyfriend."

I rolled my eyes before I replied "Hey, Lee, how's Eddy doing? He seems to be getting along with Blondie pretty well."

Lee's eyes narrowed and she glared at me. I smirked before I went outside and started walking to school. Most of the local kids, like me, walked to school but there were other kids who took the bus. I wanted to be at school early today so I was a little faster than usual.

I somehow managed to get to Peach Creek Junior High twenty minutes early.

I thought _'Just enough time to go talk to Double D.'_ as I went in through the entrance.

There were only three or four kids in the hallway and they looked at me curiously. Of course, I glared hard at them and they either turned away or went in the opposite direction. Good thing, too. I don't want anyone around when I talked to Double D.

I knew where Double D's locker was, thankfully. It took me four minutes to find out and speak of the devil, look at who was by their locker, taking out their books.

I said "Hey, Double D."

Double D turned to me with a surprised look on his face before he replied, stammering "G-Good morning, Marie."

I said "Listen, I have something to tell you."

We both said it at the same time, almost like it was fate, you know?

Double D and I both said at the same time "I'm sorry."

We both looked up at each other, shocked and stunned. I recovered from it faster than Double D did. There was fifteen minutes before school was going to start and I didn't need any interruptions or stuck-up gossipers overhearing us.

I nodded at him and said "You could go first. After all, what you have to say is probably more important."

Double D sighed before he responded with "It isn't but I will say what I must. I am sorry that I lost my temper and yelled at you. I shouldn't have done that to you, no matter the reason or circumstances were and it was truly uncalled for. Even if I did have to say what I did, I had other means of saying it to you that didn't involve that."

Double D continued "Marie, you're a great person at heart. But the way you act towards your peers isn't that good and your attitude towards almost everyone is just as bad, if not worse. If you actually just made one minor change, maybe people would start treating you better and giving you the proper respect that you deserve."

I sighed and lowered my gaze. The floor was now mine and honestly, I just didn't know how he would react to my goal. He might be in support of it, act neutral or say that I'm crazy.

I took a deep breath in and out before I said "Honey bun, I'm sorry. I should have taken your feelings and your beliefs into consideration before I started yelling. We both have different views on bullying, which is OK with me but I could have just been calmer instead of throwing a fit like that redhead brat does. You know what, maybe you're a little right. I just might dislike hearing something with a little bit of truth. But that doesn't mean that you're right and I'm wrong."

Double D replied "However, that also does not mean that it is vice versa, Marie."

I said "I have something else to tell you. I thought about what you said yesterday and I've decided to make a few minor changes with how I act toward the other kids. But that doesn't mean that I'm going all preppy. I'm still Marie Kanker. But if I'm going to be hated, I want to be hated for a legit reason rather than for scaring some sixth grader out of his lunch money."

Double D smiled at me. A genuine smile, not those fake half-smiles somebody gives you out of pity or awkwardness. I could have died right then and there and been a happy person. But then I wouldn't have Double D standing by me.

He replied "So, Marie, just how do you plan to start this amateur crusade?"

I answered "That's easy. I'll give the kids I stole money from their cash back. They get their money back, I gain a little trust and I stepped on a stone. It's a win-win for everybody."

Double D asked "How many kids have you stolen from and how much do you owe them?"

After five minutes determining the amount of cash I took from kids at school that were still there, we counted that I owed $500 to 100 sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Wow, I'm surprised I even kept track of all these kids. This must have been when Lee had May do bookkeeping.

Since this was over the course of three years, I'm not sure where their money went. Probably into either buying food or getting cool, new stuff. Or perhaps it was both.

I shoved my hands into the pocket of my jeans and looked at how much money I had. I came up with 52 dollars and 89 cents. So I had to get over just 447 dollars and I'll be out of "debt".

Wait….where the hell am I going to get 450 bucks from? I could try extortion but there's the thing with it: High reward = high risk. I'm too young to take out a loan from a bank. That wouldn't matter because a bank wouldn't give someone like me a loan anyway. Mom's not an option and even though I had saved up money from relatives and some spare change that I found on the street, I found that I was still 400 dollars short.

I had just turned 14 and as much as I hated to think about it, there was only one other option for me to get 400 bucks: to get a job.

I didn't think that the road to mild respect would be an easy one but this was insane. I was a 14-year-old girl with no previous work experience, a history of behavioral problems and a tendency to steal. Even if there was a slight chance that someone would overlook my age, my history was another story.

I asked "Double D, just what am I going to do? How am I going to get 400 dollars without either getting a job or making stealing my career choice?"

Double D answered nervously "I suppose I could give you 400 dollars. Mother always saved up money on rainy days, as the saying goes."

I hugged him, kissed him on the cheek and said "You're a lifesaver, Double D. Thanks."

He gently pushed me away and replied "I wouldn't be saying thank you so quickly. I could give you the 400 dollars but you will have to pay it back to me. Before you ask, no, I won't accept kisses as payment."

I thought _'Great. Just when I think I'm home free, something gets in my ways. Then again, I should have seen it coming. Nobody would give another person 400 bucks for free. Not even Double D.'_

I responded with "I guess I could start looking in the newspaper classifieds. It's a decent place to start searching for a job."

Like I said, the bridge is full of stepping stones and something tells me that the stones that follow will get bigger and bigger.


	6. Day 5: Dodge

Stepping Stones chapter 6

**The first step in development takes place! I wonder how Marie will deal with getting a job.**

**Benny: She'll probably deal with it the way the Kankers deal with most of their problems. Scream and beat up people.**

**Anyway, I'll reply to a few of the comments.**

**yugisun (chapter 2)- Yes, I suppose Marie may not own a computer but she could have gotten one to keep from school or a relative or her estranged dad could have given it to her.**

**yugisun (chapter 3)- She isn't really much of an associate. That's Double D's justification for giving her nice things and not getting taunted about it.**

**yugisun (chapter 5)- He did hesitate before giving her that money plus she's going to have a job to pay him back. Double D may be generous but he's definitely not stupid. **

**With that out of the way, let's start the chapter!**

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><p>It's Wednesday morning and it's my turn to interview Marie. I have the camcorder in my backpack along with two sheets of loose-leaf paper to write Marie's replies down on. I had been having a decent day so far.<p>

I had gotten an A- on a Social Studies paper. It was actually higher than the grade that I had excepted to get with such limited information so I was actually pleased.

There was only one obstacle shadowing my pleasant day: the nightmare course known as Physical Education. Occasionally, when I fall asleep in Gym class, I could recall the hard sound of dodge balls coming into contact with body parts and walls and the loud, almost shouting taunts toward me.

_"What you gonna do now, Peanut? There's 6 of us and only 1 of you!"_

_"This will be too easy. He's just a weak, little geek."_

_"Let's get 'im!"_

The dodge ball incident was one that I rarely spoke of, even with my two friends. Honestly, I just don't want to recall that incident despite what my mind may think of it.

Those memories, tightly locked away in the back of my mind, slowly began to float back as I realized that the gym class were playing dodge ball in Gym today. I had on my Gym uniform of a white T-shirt and black shorts.

I looked around for Marie. However, I realized that she may have skipped class and gone somewhere else. I had hoped not as I didn't want to get caught leaving Gym by the teacher without an actual excuse.

I asked "Excuse me, Mister Bergsen. I'm supposed to meet with Marie Kanker as part of an English project. Could I go and talk to her?"

Mr. Bergsen answered "Sorry, Eddward but I can't allow students to leave this period if it's not to the bathroom, the nurse or authorized by a staff member. Anyway, you'll probably see Marie at lunch. Now you'll be on the white team over there." before he pointed to six or seven other eighth graders. Some were skinny while others were muscular.

I sighed sadly and went over to my teammates on the white team. Ed waved to me as Eddy stood next to him with a confident smile on his face.

_I thought 'Well, if I'm going to suffer in pain, at least Ed and Eddy will be on my side.'_

We were facing the red team, who were predictably wearing red shirts with blue shorts. I felt nervous and gulped. Only a few of them were incredibly strong but I have learned over time that appearances can be quite deceiving. Mister Bergsen took out 5 dodge balls and placed them in the middle of the court.

Mister Bergsen said "OK, boys, we'll play a game of dodge ball. It's the white team on the right against the red team on the left. I'm sure you all know the standard rules of dodge ball. You'll throw the ball and someone will have to dodge or catch the ball. If someone gets hit, they're out. The round goes on until all of the players on one side are out. We'll play 4 rounds and if there's a tie, we'll play a short tie-breaker round. Does everyone understand?" and everybody nodded.

Mister Bergsen backed away and blew his whistle. The game of dodge ball commenced and I just tried to dodge everything that came at me. I barely made it past 2 dodge balls which made a loud-sounding impact with the ground and then the wall.

A muscular, blond-haired boy on the red team threw a dodge ball at a tall, slightly overweight boy near me. The dodge ball loudly made contact with his stomach and he slightly staggered back. He seemed to be fine, though but out of the round. The overweight boy quickly jogged to the bench.

I looked around me for Ed and Eddy while trying not to get hit by any dodge balls. Ed was five feet to my right, doing well as most dodge balls he either caught or threw. Eddy was in front of me by three feet , mostly dodging or throwing dodge balls.

I suddenly noticed a red, round projectile quickly headed towards my ribs. I hurriedly put my hands out to catch it. As I closed my eyes in nervousness and fear, I began to mildly recall the dodge ball incident once more.

_The dodge balls were being thrown and tossed in a quick manner, almost violently even. I didn't notice that it was coming. _

_The barrage of dodge balls headed towards me and I tried my best to dodge them. I was somewhat successful as I had managed to catch one of the dodge balls intended to cause me harm. A tall, stocky boy was brought in alongside me._

I slowly opened my eyes to see everyone staring at me. I looked down at my hands to see the red rubber dodge ball in them. I looked to the bench and saw the slightly overweight boy and a short but moderately muscular boy. I pointed to the slightly overweight boy and he got off the bench and came next to me.

I tossed the dodge ball to him and he smiled and said "Thanks."

That one action, even if it's a small one, can sometimes be the difference between someone living and dying.

However, my act of kindness came with a consequence. I was unexpectedly hit with two dodge balls which hit my leg and my shoulder. I dejectedly walked over to the bench, feeling slightly sore in both areas.

_I thought "I suppose I should have seen it coming. I would have gotten hit sooner or later."_

The red team won that round but we decided to make a comeback, Ed and Eddy in particular. They and the slightly overweight boy managed to encourage the rest of us and we tied it 1-1. They replied by losing again, making it 2-1. But we may have gotten overconfident in our strategy as they came back, tying the game once again.

It was now the tie-breaking round and there was 4 players chosen to be on each side. The red team chose three of their strongest players along with a short, slim boy. Our team picked Ed, Eddy and the slightly overweight boy. We had to choose one more player and we were having trouble deciding.

Eddy looked over at me with a grin and said "Hey, I've got an idea. Why not Double D?"

The short muscular boy from earlier replied "Yeah, he managed to get a player or two back like Carlos into the game while he was getting hit. That takes a little courage."

Ed said "Double D!"

The decision was completely unanimous. The fourth and final player was me.

We lined up, looking our opponents in the eye. Mister Bergsen blew his whistle and we ran up to grab the dodge balls. Only Ed and Carlos managed to grab dodge balls. Eddy and I had to dodge and catch and hopefully get one of them.

Ed was taken out of the round rather quickly, being hit in the back. Eddy would have called it a "cheap shot" and believe me, he did. Eddy got one of the players out but got hit shortly after in the upper torso. That left 3 players on the red team and just me and Carlos on the white team.

I picked up one of the stray dodge balls on our side, aimed at the short, slim boy and threw. He tried to dodge but the ball narrowly made contact with his thigh. That made the teams even at 2 each.

Carlos also threw a ball at the two players, getting one out but the other missed. Unfortunately, he got hit rather hard in the face. His glasses fell off his face as he went on his knees, rubbing his left cheek in shock. I was the only player left and the other members of my team cheered me on.

"Come on, Double D!"

"You can do this!"

"Vanquish the last Terran, Double D!"

It was me against two boys on the red team. The muscular blond boy threw a dodge ball at me but I ducked and the ball hit the wall ten feet behind me. I picked up the dodge ball and threw. A dark-skinned boy with brown hair jumped up a incredibly narrow amount and caught the ball, making me out and ending the game.

The red team smiled and cheered while the white team got up with smiles on their faces. We may have lost but at least we still had our self-confidence. I got a few pats on the back from my teammates and the boy who caught the ball went over to me.

He stuck his hand out to me and said "Good game. I was actually worried for a while."

I shook his hand before I went into the locker room to change my clothes.

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><p><strong>So that is chapter 6! Yes, I know, Marie wasn't in this chapter but she'll definitely be in the next one. We'll show how things are going for her then.<strong>


	7. Day 6: Haiku

Stepping Stones chapter 7

**Here's Marie's Thursday! We get to see how life's going for her.**

**Benny: She's probably sleeping and dreaming about Double D.**

**How do you even know that, Benny? For all you know, she's throwing something out a window.**

**Here's my reply to the comments:**

**sergeant peace – Thanks! I appreciate it.**

**PhoneixVersion1 - Well, this one is longer than the last one. I think it's almost twice the length so I hope this helps.**

**SAMURAIsensei71 (chapter 1) – Thanks. I'm glad that I'm doing a good job. **

**BarthVader (chapter 5) – For the IPhone, it hasn't been broken, destroyed or messed with so even if Double D did waste money, at least he doesn't have to get a refund for a broken phone. As for the bullying issue, Marie is attempting to change. It won't exactly be easy for her to go from a bully to a respected person or even an anti-hero and even though Double D will accept her efforts, that doesn't mean that everyone else will. The fact that Marie is somewhat resistant to becoming a respected person won't help. I do appreciate your comment.**

**Enjoy the chapter, everybody!**

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><p>I slowly opened my eyes before I rubbed them. I sat up and looked at my alarm clock. My eyes widened as I realized that it was 6:45 am.<p>

Great, I only had thirty minutes to take a shower, get dressed and eat breakfast. Why the hell didn't Lee or May wake me up? Of course not, they were probably too busy laughing at me groaning in my sleep. But at least the nice dream I had was worth it.

I took a nice, relaxing shower. After five minutes, I got interrupted by loud banging at the door.

_I thought 'Who would need the bathroom at 6:50 am?'_

I shouted out "Who is it?"

The person shouted back "Ya know who it is, Marie! Hurry up in there! I gotta brush my hair!"

I rolled my eyes. I should have figured that it was Lee. I shut off the water and dried myself off with the towel.

I replied "Hold your horses, Lee! I'm coming out now."

I came out of the bathroom to see Lee in a dark green, short-sleeved T-shirt and her normal jeans. Her hair looked messy and she was glaring at me a little.

Lee said "Took you long enough. Were you too busy daydreaming to hear me?"

I responded with "Five minutes isn't a big deal. Besides, you're one to talk about time. Why didn't you, or May, wake me up?"

Lee replied, smirking "You seemed pretty comfy. So we didn't wanna bother ya."

I replied "Whatever. If you're gonna go and do something like that, at least set my alarm clock or something." before I headed to my room.

I put on a white band T-shirt with a pair of black jeans and a black and white striped hoodie. I then brushed my hair and put on my red Converses.

I smelt eggs and bacon coming from the downstairs kitchen.

_I thought 'Mom must be cooking breakfast today.'_

I quickly went down the steps and into the kitchen. Mom had her chestnut hair down and curly as she was making bacon, cheese and mushroom omelets with toast. She looked like she was in a hurry.

She smiled exhaustively and said "OK, girls. Here's your omelets." as she put one on each of the three plates.

I sat down along with Lee and May and started eating the omelets and toast.

May looked up at Mom after taking a bite of hers and asked "Aren't you eating, Mom?"

Mom answered "I already ate, May but thanks for the concern. Now I have to go to work early today so Leonard's going to do me a favor and drop you off at school."

May, Lee and I looked at each other before we groaned quietly under our breath.

Leonard was this 30-something loser who worked with my mom. He almost always seems to be around wherever Mom is. Parent-teacher conferences, the local park, the supermarket, you name it. Leonard's always trying to flirt with her and gives her gifts like roses and chocolate. Mom always acts like it's not from Leonard and she thinks he's weird but a little sweet. We just think that he's a creep who wants to show her off to his pathetic friends at work.

On the other hand, that means we don't have to walk the thirty or forty minutes to Peach Creek Junior High. So maybe the loser's good for something. Speaking of work, I've been looking through the classified sections of the local papers for the past couple of days now. There's been no luck yet. I'm either too young, under qualified or both. The ones that do accept me look at my history and say "We'll contact you, Miss Kanker." They never do, of course.

Even if I do find a job that will hire a troublesome 14-year-old girl, I certainly won't earn 400 bucks overnight. I'll probably earn just a little over minimum wage and even if I do overtime, it would still take at least a few months before I could pay Double D back.

I turned to the classified section of the Peach Creek Nectarine, the town's alternative weekly. I circled a few of the jobs in red. One of them was a job at the Mignon Diner in town. $10.50 an hour and possible employees have to be the age of 14 or over. That sounds kinda promising.

Lee looked over my shoulder, scoffed and asked "Classified? What are you looking in there for?" before she took a bite of her omelet.

I shrugged before I answered "A job. I owe someone some cash so I figured that I might as well get a job to earn enough to pay them back and then some."

Lee shrugged back and responded with "Nobody's gonna hire you, ya know."

Mom raised an eyebrow and asked with her arms crossed "Why's that, Lee?"

Lee answered "Let's face it, Ma. We're two things: underage and Kankers. In other words, we're too young to get a decent job and we're trouble."

Mom responded with "Hey, don't go acting like that, OK? I have confidence in all three of you girls and I think that if you put some effort in it, you can do whatever the hell you want."

May said "So if one of us wanted to travel the world, you'd let us?"

Mom answered "Honey, I would be OK with one of you dressing up in a bear suit and painting their face red, orange and purple as long as it makes you happy or helps you out in the long run."

The four of us laughed a little.

_I thought 'Good thing Social Services can't say that she's a horrible mom.'_

This family moment was interrupted by a moderately loud honk coming from outside. I checked my watch. The time was 7:11 am so it must have been Leonard.

Mom said "Oh, that must be Leonard. Come on, girls, get your things!"

We finished our omelets and put our plates in the sink before we ran out of the kitchen to grab our backpacks.

I grabbed my black backpack and said "Bye, Mom."

Lee had her backpack and said "Bye, Ma."

May had her blue backpack over one shoulder and said "Bye, Mom."

Mom replied "Have a good day at school, girls!"

May walked out the door, followed by Lee and me. Leonard was sitting in his dark red Corvette with a smug smile on his face. We didn't want to touch him with a ten-foot pole but there was no way we were about to turn down a free ride to school.

Leonard smiled and said calmly "Morning, girls. How are things?"

Lee frowned and replied coldly "Fine, thanks." before she took shotgun.

May and I went in the back seat and put on our seatbelts. Mom came out of the house, smiling brightly.

Mom said "Thank you, Leonard. I wouldn't have asked you but I have to go in early for a meeting and I wanted to make sure the girls were going to be OK on the way to school."

Leonard smiled and responded with "It's fine, Susan. Taking the girls to school isn't any trouble for me. Good luck at your meeting."

Mom kissed him on the cheek before she walked away towards the bus stop. Lee turned to us when neither of them were not looking and made a gagging sound. May chuckled at that while I grinned.

_I thought 'Okay, I just have to survive 10 minutes in a car with Creep Man. This shouldn't be too hard.'_

At least it wouldn't have been hard if Leonard wasn't trying to pass the time by making conversation with us. That was a big mistake.

Leonard asked "You girls go to Peach Creek Junior High, right? I went there too and was part of the class of 1998. Hey, have any of you heard of a teacher named Miss Hollingford?"

Lee answered "Never heard of her."

We did know Miss Hollingford. She was a 41-year-old Social Studies teacher at school and she taught history in a boring way. If students were able to grade teachers in certain areas of the class they taught, she would get an A for effort but a C minus for execution. She mostly made us read out of the textbook for a while and gave us one or two worksheets to do. There was the occasional good lesson where we would get to debate and stuff and one time, she even bought in some Japanese stuff into class for a lesson on Japanese history. That was the best lesson I had in Social Studies as a 7th grader.

Leonard replied "I had her as a Social Studies teacher in 6th grade. She was pretty energetic and always tried to engage her students."

If that is true, then what the hell changed for her? Wait a second, let me answer my own question. What changed for her was the school system. Or maybe she was just tired of trying to appeal to stuck-up 11-year-olds who couldn't be bothered to learn anything.

I looked out of the car window and saw that we were pulling up to Peach Creek Junior High. Thank God, I was wondering when we would be able to get away from this loser. May, Lee and I grabbed our stuff and got out of the car. Lee slammed the car door loudly but not so hard that the door would break off. The last thing we needed was for Mom to have to pay Leonard for having his car door taken off. Not that the creep would even care. He would probably just pay for it himself and then ask her out on a date.

Leonard asked "Have a nice day at school. Do you want me to pick you up after school?"

I answered "It's fine. We'll walk home." before Leonard reversed and drove his Corvette down the street and out of sight.

We went inside the school and May looked at her watch. The time was now 7:22 am.

_I thought 'I have almost 40 minutes all to myself. I'll go interview Double D.'_

I went to my locker first to drop off my backpack. I took out my camcorder and a spiral notebook that I had been using for the film project. After that, I went to talk to Double D. However, I couldn't find him. He wasn't at his locker so I went to the library. Surprisingly, he wasn't there either. I asked some scared kids a little threateningly where he was. They had no clue.

I saw this chubby kid who is in our Gym class. What's his name? Cameron? Carlton? Carl? Wait…now I remember, it's Carlos. He was playing dodge ball with Double D yesterday.

I said "Hey. You're Carlos, right?"

He turned to me and nodded nervously.

I said "I heard that you're buddies with Double D. Where is he?"

Carlos replied "Double D and I aren't buddies. I don't know where Double D is. He can do whatever he wants."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Even if this guy knew where Double D was, he wasn't planning to tell me.

_I thought 'Oh well, I'll just see him in English.'_

I spent the next forty minutes sitting at an otherwise empty table in the library, listening to Imagine Dragons and Arctic Monkeys and flinging rubber bands at random kids.

After three boring classes (including a horrible game of basketball), English finally came around. Lee was glaring at Blondie as she talked to Eddy, May was "trying" to discreetly stare at Ed and I sat in my seat and scribbling on my desk with a pen while waiting for Double D to show up.

I saw Double D shakily walk into the room and go to his seat with a smile on his face.

I sat next to Double D with a smirk and said "Morning, Double D."

Double D smiled shyly and replied "Good morning, Marie. How are things going?"

I replied "Oh, they're going OK. I've been looking for a job. Anyway, you did great at dodge ball yesterday. I like a man who's both brain and brawn."

Double D blushed lightly before he stammered "E-Er, well, I did decently in Gym. I wouldn't say that I did great or that I was the best player."

Miss Parker came into the room with a smile on her face and the class began.

Ms. Parker said "So it's been almost a week since I assigned the project. I'll be excepting an update from all of my students tomorrow. Yes, that means you, Eddy, Mike and Lee."

Ms. Parker continued "Now I had you all write a haiku yesterday based on a selective topic I gave each of you. Lucas, you're first."

Lucas got up with a piece of loose leaf in his hand.

He said "A bud grows in the plain and it blossoms into a tall beautiful flower."

Ms. Parker replied "That was good, Lucas but you could have done better at following the format. Eddy, you're up next."

Eddy got up with a crumbled up piece of paper. He slowly opened up the crumbled wad and began to read from it.

Eddy said "A dove flies in the rain then the sun comes out to shine. Just like my deep love for you comes out bright."

Ms. Parker replied "That was very poetic and touching, Eddy but you didn't follow the format, either."

Double D raised his hand and Ms. Parker said "Yes, Eddward?"

Double D asked "Ms. Parker, aren't haikus allowed to be more than 17 syllables long? Wouldn't Lucas and Eddy's haikus be classified as haikus?"

Ms. Parker nodded and answered "That's true, Eddward. However, we're reviewing traditionalhaikus. If any of you want to write a modern haiku after we finish reviewing the traditional haikus, you are free to do so. Nazz, let's hear your haiku."

Blondie got up with her English notebook and started reading.

Blonde said "The swans swim as you close your eyes and sigh one last breath before you go."

Ms. Parker asked "That was very good, Nazz. How did you come up with that haiku?"

Blondie answered "It's based on my grandmother's death. She was Polish and the swan is commonly used by noble families in Poland. Also, she used to be a swimmer."

Ms. Parker said "Thank you, Nazz. Ah, let's see who is next. Ed, normally you're engaged in class. Let's listen to your haiku."

Ed slowly got up and went to the front of the room with a crumpled piece of loose leaf. He smoothed out the paper and began to read from it.

Ed said "The beastly monster is taking over me. The yell comes out from inside me."

Ms. Parker replied "That was good, Ed. What was your inspiration?"

Ed smiled and said "Horror movies, comics. Just my hobbies, Miss Patriot."

Ms. Parker responded with "Alright, we'll have just one more person. Marie, we haven't heard from you since Monday. Let's hear your haiku."

I grabbed my spiral notebook, got up and went to the front of the room. I felt a little nervous but I pushed that feeling out almost instantly.

_I thought 'I'm a Kanker. We don't get nervous.'_

I said in a fierce tone "Tiger's claws are sharp. Better watch out because they are coming for you." before I looked at my classmates.

My gaze lingered on Nazz, Double D and that Douglas girl for a few seconds longer than it did on everyone else. Miss Parker had a smile on her face, like she was a proud parent and I was her successful daughter. That smile then felt really weird.

Ms. Parker said "Very good haiku, Marie. What was your inspiration?"

I shrugged and answered "My personality." before I sat back down next to Double D.

The bell rang and kids began getting their stuff and leaving.

Ms. Parker said "Remember, you have to give your updates on your projects tomorrow!" as Double D and I left the room.

Double D asked "Marie, where are we holding the interview?"

I answered "Someplace quiet, where nobody will bother us. I know just the place." as we headed out the back entrance of the school.

The school had two schoolyards: a huge, lavish one not far from the building where mostly sixth and seventh graders hung out and a smaller courtyard in the back that was usually abandoned. Double D and I were going to the courtyard to do our interview.

I sat down on the steps of the stairs heading out to the courtyard. Double D stood down on the concrete, shyly looking down on the ground.

_I thought 'Not a time to be shy, Double D. Not now.'_

I had a smirk on my face as I took out the camcorder, turned it on and hit the record button.

I asked "So, Double D, how would you describe yourself when it comes to sports?"

Double D answered "I would describe myself as not being a fan of sports, although I do participate in some sports when needed."

I asked with a grin and mock innocence "You mean like you helping out your team in dodge ball yesterday?"

Double D answered "I wasn't the only player on my team. Eddy, Ed and Carlos helped out the white team as well. We may have lost but we had done well in the game."

I asked "Who would you say is your role model?"

Double D answered "Isaac Newton. He is one of the most influential scientists of all time and developed the laws of motion."

I asked "What are three jobs that you aspire to be?"

Double D answered "A scientist or doctor, a computer engineer or a technician."

_I thought 'He seems to have a plan for wherever he fails. So he thinks things out a lot more than he shows.'_

I asked "What are your views on politics?"

Double D answered "I personally think that politics take too much precedent over the result of social events. If I were to vote, it would be as an Independent or Democrat depending on who I am voting for and their platform."

I asked "One last question. Would you go out with me on Saturday night?"

Double D answered with a deep blush "N-No comment, Marie." as he got up.

I saved the footage and turned off the camcorder.

Double D asked "How is the job search going? You said this morning that you were looking for one."

I answered "I found a few potential jobs. I'm going to make some calls after school and get an interview lined up."


	8. Day 7: Realization

Stepping Stones chapter 8

**OK, now it's Double D and his Friday! I wonder what's going to happen here.**

**Benny: You said something about respect while you were writing down potential ideas.**

**Maybe but I'll just tell people to read the chapter and review. It will make it more mysterious that way.**

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><p>It was a nice, comfortable Friday afternoon. I was glad because we didn't have Physical Education on Fridays but I do however have to give my footage to Ms. Parker in our next class. I was actually fine with that, even if that meant I might not be able to interview Marie today.<p>

_I thought 'At least we would get credit for what we did the past week.'_

As the bell rang and the students began to gather their things, I said "Ed and Eddy, how are your projects going?"

Eddy replied, smiling confidently "It's going well, Sockhead. I'll probably be going out with Nazz by the end of the month."

I smiled and thought _'Well, Eddy seems fine as usual. But what about Ed?'_

Ed answered, smiling "My project's good. Peter likes comics too like the Adventures of Evil Tim and the Swamp Creatures of Lake Topeka."

I replied "I think you might mean Tapioca, Ed."

I thought _'Why was I so worried? They're both doing well with their projects, just like me.'_

I put my notebook into my backpack, zipped my backpack closed and followed Ed and Eddy to our English class. It would be fine because all I had to do is show Ms. Parker my footage at the end of the class and then interview Marie at lunch.

We entered the class as I realized that we were early. That was great for me as I didn't have to worry about my attendance record. But I did wonder where Marie was. I didn't think that she would be early but I'm hoping that she didn't decide to skip. Neither of us would benefit from that, her more than me.

I sat down at my desk and thought _'Maybe I'm worrying too much. Marie's not going to risk skipping school today.'_

I waited as our fellow students began entering the room. Nazz and Kevin began to talk about their projects. While they were doing that, I looked over to Ed and Eddy. Ed was engaged in reading one of his comics while Eddy was sitting in his chair and his feet up on his desk with a smirk on his face.

The rest of the students began to come into the classroom, including Marie. I smiled nervously as I waited for Ms. Parker to come in. I was hoping that Marie had her footage from this week and so far, it seemed like I was right.

Marie sat down at her desk in the row in front of mine, took out her notebook and began writing something. She then looked back at me and grinned mischievously.

I thought '_What is Marie up to? Then again, it could just be nothing.'_

Miss Parker walked into the room with a confident smile on her face.

She looked around the room before she said "Good morning, everyone! OK, first, everyone will come and give me their draft or footage. Eddy, please take your feet off of your desk. As much as you may wish, this isn't your house."

Everyone got up and began going to the front of the room and gave their draft or footage to Ms. Parker. I slowly got up with my camcorder and walked towards the front of the room.

I thought _'Will Miss Parker like it? Will she hate it? What if she sees something she finds inappropriate? What if we lose points? OK, Eddward, calm down…she just wants to look at how everybody's doing. She isn't making any final judgments.'_

I calmly gave my camcorder to Ms. Parker who turned it on and looked at my footage.

Ms. Parker said "You and Marie seem to be making decent progress, Eddward. Even if Marie isn't exactly showing it, she is trying to do harder. As for the footage, you two could try to show more variation. Instead of just doing interviews, sometimes you or Marie could say what's on your mind."

That was what I've been telling myself. But then again, I could just be too kind, like some people tell me. However, if this does help benefit everyone, including Marie herself, then I'll keep trying. Saying what was on my mind wasn't what I planned to do, even if it would calm me down.

I falsely smiled and responded with "Thank you, Ms. Parker." before she handed me back the camcorder and I headed back to my seat.

I sat back down and sighed in relief. I moderately felt that both my and Marie's success depended on me. Despite the fact that I could deal with that, it does feel like too much sometimes.

A few minutes later, Miss Parker stood up and said "Alright, I've looked at everyone's drafts and footage. This class is making good progress, some students more than others. Remember, you have another week left. Now, Nazz has an announcement to make." as Nazz stood up and went to the front of the room.

Nazz said "Thank you, Ms. Parker. As the current leader of the White Ribbon Club, I'd like to say that today is our Leadership Day, sponsored by the school. An eighth grader will be assigned as a "leader" to a sixth grader of the same sex. It is that eighth grader who is supposed to help that sixth grader with any problems or issues that they have."

Marie rolled her eyes and yawned loudly. Some of the kids turned and glared at her. I actually couldn't blame them. Even though Marie and I made a little progress, she's still in her old ways. Whether it is because she just doesn't want to change or if she's afraid that if she does try to be a better person, people will mock and condemn her for it, I don't know.

Ms. Parker took over and said "I've decided to sign up the entire class for Leadership Day so like it or not, you will all be paired up with a sixth grader. The pairing chart is over there by the door. You may use your experience to help you with your project."

The bell rang and the students started to get their things and exit the classroom.

Ms. Parker said "Remember to look at the pairing chart as you're leaving!"

I looked at the pairing chart and tried to find my name. I quickly found my name on the left side and the one opposite me was Gabriel Evans. I could recall seeing the boy once or twice in the hallway earlier this year but that was all.

Marie looked over my shoulder and said "Hmm, Gabriel Evans. Never heard of the kid. Wonder what ungrateful brat I got?"

I replied "They're not ungrateful brats, they're just young kids starting middle school. By the way, you're assigned to Lira Geroni."

Marie scoffed and responded with "Lira Geroni? What kind of parent names their kid after money? Well, names don't matter unless you're rich. Anyway, I think I know the last name. Geroni. Oh yeah, her sister's in our grade. Bethany or Bonnie or something that starts with a B. The whole family is a bunch of weird creeps."

I sighed and thought _'I have just the slightest feeling that not even 14 days will be enough to change Marie.'_

Marie and I along with our classmates went to the auditorium to meet our partners for Leadership Day. I talked to Gabriel, who had red hair, green eyes and tan skin. He seemed like a nice kid even if we didn't have much in common.

Marie stood up with her foot against the wall, playing Flappy Bird on her IPhone. I occasionally questioned why I bought it for her before I remembered why. That reason is something that I will most likely never disclose, probably not even to Marie herself.

I asked "Marie, shouldn't you be talking with your follower?"

Marie answered "As you can see, the brat hasn't shown up yet. So I'm just gonna do this to kill time." before a young girl, with dark brown hair in braided pigtails and a blue dress, came up to us.

The girl said "Excuse me, I'm looking for Marie Kanker."

Without looking up from her IPhone, Marie answered "That's me. You must be Lira Geroni. Your sister is Bethany Geroni, right?"

Lira shyly replied "H-Her name's Bertha, actually."

Marie said "Whatever, kid. We'll talk in a few minutes. I just have to get to 140 points on Flappy Bird."

Lira responded with "But I need to talk to you now…" before she tapped Marie's arm.

Marie muttered angrily "Damnit." before she put away her IPhone and turned to Lira with a glare.

Marie asked with an annoyed tone "What do you want?"

Lira answered quietly "I-I have two girls who are bothering me. They're both in the seventh grade. They attack me, make fun of me and take my money. C-Can you help me? You are my mentor after all-"

She was interrupted by Marie who responded with "Look, runt, I don't have the time or the patience to deal with your little problem. Either you tell a teacher or somebody or you stand up for yourself and beat 'em up."

Lira said "I can't do that. If I do either of those, the two of them will just make things worse for me."

Marie casually shrugged and replied "Then I can't help you. It's your problem, find your own solution."

Lira walked away with a sad, unhappy look on her face. I glared at Marie who looked back at me, slightly confused.

Marie said "What?"

I responded with "You know, Marie, you could try and help her."

Marie replied "How? I told the runt her two options: tell somebody or stand up for yourself. She doesn't want to do either and I'm not getting suspended for fighting some little brat's battles so it's out of my hands."

I responded "At least try to break up an altercation between her and her tormentors if and when it occurs."

Marie sighed, put her hands up and said "Fine, fine. I'll help the kid if she gets cornered but otherwise, it's not my problem."

I went back to talking with Gabriel while Marie began to write something in one of her notebooks.

I asked "How does a walk around the school sound to you two?"

Gabriel smiled and answered "That sounds good. It will help me keep in shape."

Marie grunted and answered "Anything's better than sitting here, bored as hell."

The three of us went out of the auditorium and began to walk around the school. As we had, Marie noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Two girls were pushing another against the wall. The girl pushed against the wall was Lira.

The first girl asked "Where's our cash, poor girl?" while the second tightened her hold on Lira.

A wide-eyed Lira answered "I don't have any! P-Please leave me alone!"

The first girl slapped Lira and said "Listen, you! Do we look like we care about your little self-pity? We need 20 bucks by the end of the day and no matter how, you're going to give it to us!"

Marie shoved the first girl back and replied "How about you leave her alone? She said she didn't have any so just stay away from her. Or else you'll have me to deal with."

The second girl asked angrily "Who do you think you are, bossing us around?"

Marie answered "I'm Marie Kanker, you little brat."

The first girl stiffened as soon as she heard Marie's name.

Marie continued "And if you know what's good for you, you'll never bother her again!"

The first girl motioned for the second girl to let go of Lira. The second girl dropped Lira on the ground while the two of them retreated.

The first girl shouted "This isn't over, Pixie! Now you're gonna get it ten times as bad!" before she and the other girl ran off in the other direction.

Gabriel and I helped Lira get up before she turned to Marie and said "Thank you."

Marie shrugged with a smirk and replied "I'm just doing my job, runt."

Lira picked up her backpack and coolly walked away with a smile on her face.

Unfortunately, as great as Leadership Day was, those who participated in them were exempt from attending class. This left Marie and I with virtually nothing to do. So we went to go do our interview. However, we had to stop by Marie's locker first so that she could get something from her locker.

I asked "What do you need to get, Marie?"

She answered "Pandora. It's something that I don't show too many people, OK?" before she opened her locker.

A few moments later, honey and tar had been poured all over her and she had been covered in feathers. Everyone in the hallway started laughing, except for me and Marie of course. She was clenching her fists and looked angry.

A friend of her mom had to go and get her a spare change of clothes from her house. Marie didn't exactly look happy to see him.

Marie asked "Why are you here, Leonard?"

Leonard answered "Your school called and said your mom should probably come and give you a change of clothes. She couldn't show up so she gave me a spare key and I brought you some." before he handed Marie a shopping bag.

Marie still looked angry but murmured "Thanks, Leonard."

Leonard smiled and said "Well, I should get back to work now. Bye, Marie. It was nice to meet you, Eddward."

I replied "You too. Goodbye." as he left the school.

Marie turned around and said "Creep. I don't know why Mom would decide to give him a spare key. But at least I do know one thing."

I responded with "He seemed like a kind man to me. What do you know, then?"

Marie answered "Those two seventh-grade brats. They're the ones who made the junk pour all over me. Double D, this is why I don't fight other people's battles for them. It just makes you a target and thanks to Money Girl, I'm stuck with sludge and bird feathers on my clothes." before she went to the bathroom with the shopping bag.

A few minutes later, she came back into the hallway in her denim jacket, a red polo shirt and black sweatpants.

I said "Marie?"

Marie replied "What is it, Double D?"

I answered "You still have two or three feathers in your hair."

Marie took the feathers out of her hair and put them into a nearby garbage bin. We went back to Marie's locker where she put the tied up shopping bag in the bottom of the locker and took out a green stuffed creature.

Marie said "That's Pandora. I guess she helps me be calm and relaxed or just helps me put all my fears and worries away." and put it into her backpack before Lira nervously walked up to us.

Lira hesitantly asked "Marie, are you OK?"

Marie glared fiercely at Lira and answered "Am I OK? I just got my clothes messed up and humiliated in front of half of the kids in the school and you're asking if I'm OK? I should have just stayed out of your little problem instead of trying to defend you. Then again, you're just the type of person to need somebody to defend you. You're pathetic."

I said "Marie, it's not her fault."

She glared angrily at me before she turned back to Lira and continued "It's no wonder those girls bully you. You're easy prey and you don't even try to stand up for yourself. You just whimper, whine and cry like a baby. It's people like you that will always be cowards and followers, Money Girl. Face it, you're a joke and we'd all be better off if you just flew far away from here." before Marie slammed her locker door closed.

Lira softly cried a little before she wiped away her tears and said "W-Well, I'm sorry for bothering you."

She then turned around and walked away. I looked at Marie with a combination of anger, disgust and disappointment.

Marie asked "What, Double D?"

I answered calmly "Marie, why did you say that to her? Lira didn't choose to be bullied. She didn't decide that she wanted to be harassed and robbed every day just because she's shy, quiet and distant. You snapping at her isn't going to help."

Marie replied in an unapologetic tone "Maybe snapping at her would get her out of that dream world she's in."

I said "Let's go find her and see if she's OK."

Marie responded with "You can go see if she's fine. I'm going to stay here."

I replied "Marie, let's go find her. She's a scared, embarrassed 11-year-old girl who feels like she's boxed in. Lira just wanted to know if you were fine and you exploded at her for no reason other than the fact that she was there."

Marie said "No, I exploded at her because me getting humiliated was her fault. Come to think of it, it's actually your fault too. If you hadn't convinced me to protect the runt, I would have just ignored her and not gotten splattered with gunk, oil and feathers."

I replied "Don't try to blame me for this, Marie! Come on, arguing with each other isn't going to help anybody right now. Let's go find Lira and make sure that she's alright."

Marie scoffed and responded with "Fine, I'll help but don't except me to help play the pity party when we find her sobbing in a corner like the stuck-up, weird girl that she is." before the two of us walked in the direction she was.

I thought _'I can understand why Marie shouted at Lira but that doesn't make it right. I'm not going to be hypocritical and say that I've never done that but I've never gone off at a random person nor have I ever attacked that person to the point where that person is in tears.'_

We walked out of the school through the front entrance. Just a few feet from us was Lira.

I said "There she is! Wait, what is she doing?"

Lira was running through traffic. It wasn't like she was running quickly, trying to avoid cars. It was actually like Lira was actually trying not to dodge them.

Marie said "That runt must have a death wish! It's rush hour now!"

Somebody had to do something. I ran across the street and caught and picked her up. The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air and Lira was lying on the road.

The last thing that I saw before I lost consciousness was the look of a shocked Marie and then the road.

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><p>Marie paced back and forth, trying not to check her watch. They've been in the hospital for about an hour now. Double D's mom was supposed to be coming to the hospital but it was rush hour so Marie thought that she wouldn't be there any time soon. The Geronis were also there since Lira had also gotten hurt along with Nazz.<p>

Marie thought _'This is my fault. If I had just taken a few minutes to chill, I wouldn't have gone off on Lira and she wouldn't have ran away into traffic, trying to hurt herself and Double D and Lira wouldn't be in the hospital right now.'_

Marie said "I can't believe this happened. This is all my fault."

Nazz replied "No, it's not. You couldn't control what happened."

Marie said "Yes, I could have. If I didn't snap at Lira, she wouldn't have gone into traffic and Double D wouldn't have gone to save her."

Nazz raised an eyebrow before she responded with "I'll admit, this is the first time I've actually seen you panic. You didn't seem worried about hurting kids before."

Marie said regretfully "Yeah but I've never put anyone in the ER! I've never hurt Double D, even as a joke! Now I've gone and hurt two people."

Nazz replied "Look, it isn't so bad. Double D's mom is going to be here soon and we'll explain what happened and the doctor will tell her how Double D is."

Marie noticed a girl with dark brown hair in braids wearing a brown tank top and jeans on the other side of the room. It took her a few seconds to realize who it was.

Marie thought _'Bertha Geroni. I owe Lira something. If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be here. Wait, the last thing I had before the whole thing was Pandora. The thing that made me forget all my fears. Pandora's better for her than it will ever be for me."_

Marie got up and walked over to Bertha.

She said "I'm Marie Kanker. You're Bertha, right?"

Bertha nodded and replied "Yes, I am. So you saw what happened."

Marie said "Yeah, she got hit by a car. When you see Lira, give this to her. I call it Pandora." before Marie handed Pandora to Bertha.

Nazz said "You have a stuffed doll?"

Marie sighed and continued "Give it to Lira. She'll be of better use to her than it ever was to me." before she walked out of the room.

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><p><strong>That's chapter 8! We're at the midway point!<strong>

**Benny: I'll admit I wasn't excepting that. Maybe that was worth waiting a month for. On the other hand, two people hurt because one played Human Frogger may not be so great.**

**I didn't say that was great, only mysterious! Happy Passover!**

**Benny: You're not Jewish.**

**I know but I still respect every holiday.**


	9. Day 8: Panic Button

Stepping Stones chapter 9

**Ah, the storm after the calm. Now we see the aftermath of last chapter.**

**Benny: How can you be so calm when you just injured two of your characters and traumatized another one?**

**Have you ever heard of recovery, Benny? OK, so I'll respond to a comment.**

**Mr. Mookenstein (chapter 2) - Double D doesn't have a lot of money. His parents, well…that's another story for another place and time. **

**So, read and review, everyone!**

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><p>It felt like a nightmare as I was trying to sleep. Oh wait, it was a nightmare. Damnit.<p>

_**I slowly opened my eyes. Wait a minute, why am I standing by the road in front of the school? Am I having some kind of memory break?**_

_**I noticed Double D and Lira in the middle of the street, the car speeding up as a loud, deep voice crackled around me.**_

"_**It is your fault, Marie. You did this to them because you couldn't be bothered to stay out of it all."**_

_**That weird voice was right. Double D and Lira getting hurt was my fault. But obsessing over it isn't going to help.**_

_**I tried to wake up but I couldn't, for some reason.**_

"_**Do you really think you could just run away from your crimes? Just like when your mom runs away from you and your bratty sisters? Or when your dad ran away from having to take care of you? No, you can't get out now. You're seeing this."**_

_**As the car hit them, Double D turned towards me and shouted "Marie! Why did you insult her? Why did you do this?"**_

_**I screamed and then it all stopped.**_

I woke up, almost screaming as I sat up in a cold sweat. May and Lee were by my side as I checked my alarm clock. 5:30 am. My interview for waitress at the Mignon Diner is in three hours. But I guess life decided to wake me up a little early.

Lee asked "You alright, Marie? You could've woke up the dead the way you were screaming."

I slowly nodded before I answered "I'm surprised you two are awake. I thought you would've gone back to sleep."

May said "We would have but Lee wanted to make sure you're OK."

I replied "I'm fine. Don't worry about me and I thought May was up to finish that present she was planning for Ed."

May's face turned red and responded angrily with "Shut up, Marie!"

I rolled my eyes and said "Calm down, May. You know I'm just messing with ya. Besides, you already sent your present to Ed last week."

Lee responded with "As much as watching you two is hilarious, we got things to do today so May and I are hitting the hay. What about you, Marie?"

I answered "I'm going to get ready and go to my interview and after that, I'll stop by the hospital to check on Double D and Lira." as I got out of my bed and headed to the shower.

I looked at myself in the mirror and thought '_Today is going to be a long day for me._' before I stepped into the shower.

I turned on the water and instantly, a river of cold water dropped on my skin as I grabbed a bar of soap.

As I washed my skin and hair, I wondered how Lira and Double D were doing. I wondered if I would get the job and pay Double D back. I wondered if my life was ever going to be better or even the same.

I thought '_Maybe I'm just wondering too much this morning._' as I shut off the water.

I stepped out of the shower with my towel around my waist and dried off. I slowly walked back to my room, quietly so that I wouldn't disturb Mom or Lee or May again.

I put on a white blouse and knee-length black shirt with one of Mom's old jackets. Despite having been shrunk in the wash a few times, the red jacket fit with almost no problem.

I then put on some mascara and eye shadow along with red lipstick. It might seem a little shallow but I want to make a good impression and looking like I just crawled out of bed this morning isn't that.

I headed downstairs and decided to make myself breakfast this morning. Save Mom the trouble. I grabbed a box of Honey Nut Cheerios from the cupboard along with a carton of milk and a bowl and spoon. I poured the cereal into the bowl followed by the milk and began to eat with my spoon.

I felt the anxiety rising from my stomach to my head. What if I didn't get the job? What if I did but it wouldn't be as a waitress? What if I got the waitressing job but the pay was lower than I thought?

I thought '_No, I have to stay calm and just try to do this with a smile on my face._'

My large spoonfuls soon turned to small nibbles as my nerves and anxiety resurfaced in me, in an even greater amount than before.

After a half hour of slow cereal eating, Mom, Lee and May came into the kitchen. I tried to keep calm and managed to do that a little.

Mom said "Good morning, Marie. So today is the big day. How are you feeling?"

I responded with "I feel tired, exhausted and most of all, nervous."

Mom replied "Marie, I felt the same way you did at my first job interview. I just took a few deep breaths, put a smile on my face and tried to think positive. It worked."

Lee said "Hey, Marie, if ya start freaking out, just think about your boyfriend."

Mom responded with "Speaking of that, how is he doing, Marie?"

I looked down at the kitchen table and answered "Double D's still in the hospital. But on the plus side, they apparently moved him to the ICU. I'm going to visit him after my interview."

Mom asked "What about you, Marie? How are you holding up?"

I thought about Lira and Double D lying in hospital beds. I thought about the sickening crash as the car slammed into them and Double D went flying. I thought about those two annoying girls who practically humiliated both me and Lira.

I answered "I-I'm doing OK, Mom. It was horrible and traumatizing but I'm doing my best for Double D and Lira."

It was only 6:45 am so I had just over an hour and a half before until my interview started. I was just going to have to walk to the Mignon Diner or take the bus but I hardly had any money so walking it was.

I went to the bathroom to go brush my teeth and straighten out my hair. I know, the second part sounds very stupid and I think so too but I have to impress the hell out of the Rosaros if I want this job. And I need it at this point.

Ten minutes later, I still felt like I should have just stayed in bed. But I was going to do this, no matter what. It was now 7:00 and I had an hour and a half before my interview.

I said "I'm gonna go take a walk around and calm my nerves. I'll be back in 10 minutes."

Mom replied "Make sure that your cellphone's on, Marie. I might call you to get something because it looks like we're out of milk."

I headed out of the trailer and began walking around. I ended up taking a few deep breaths as I did so. As I headed down the lane, I noticed these two girls talking. It was the girls who had been bullying Lira at school.

I thought '_Those stuck-up brats aren't getting away with what they did._'

I walked slowly towards them and the first one, the leader of the two, looked at me. She had dirty blond hair and green eyes. Plus, she wore an Adidas tracksuit. I'm pretty sure that it was white and black but I didn't give a damn about her clothes.

Her follower had dark brown hair tied in a loose ponytail and hazel eyes. She wore a dark green T-shirt under a bomber jacket with jeans. She had a pseudo-confident look on her face.

I said "Hey, you two. Come over here."

The first girl scoffed and replied "You can't go ordering us like you're some kind of god."

The second girl said "Yeah, you're not the boss of us, trailer trash."

Anger and disgust towards these two surged through my body. The only thing that stopped me from just attacking them right there and then was the fact that I had an interview in around an hour and I don't need the cops arresting me.

I thought '_Chill out, Marie. Hurting these two runts wouldn't help things. The least you can do is try to straighten them out._'

I raised an eyebrow and replied coolly "You can call my home whatever you want but at least I have free will to do whatever I want." before I turned to the second girl.

I continued "What do you think is gonna happen to you the moment you're invaluable to her? You'll be dropped like a bag of garbage and that's if you're lucky. Worst case is you end up being an victim just like you made Lira."

The second girl looked at the first girl like she was confused and asked "Myra, what is she talking about?"

Myra answered "Don't listen to her, Kelsey. She's just trying to scare us because her little girlfriend got herself hit by a car."

I clenched my fists and thought '_Kid's just trying to get a rise out of me. If she thinks that I'm gonna give her the satisfaction, she's got another thing coming._'

I said "Speaking of Lira and bullying, I have a little offer for you."

Myra rolled her eyes and responded with "We don't want or need to listen to anything **you **say."

I replied "I wasn't finished. You're going to clean out my locker on Monday, return the stuff you stole from me and leave Lira alone. The poor kid has enough problems without you two cowards making things worse for her."

Myra smirked and said "How do you know we stole anything? As far as you know, we didn't go anywhere near your locker."

It was my turn to smirk. They made it too easy.

I grinned and responded with "Who said anything about a locker? I sure didn't so you two idiots just confessed to doing it. Now either you do what I just said or I'll go to the cops. Assault, theft and now that I can prove it, vandalism. How much time do you two think you'll get?"

Kelsey said nervously "No way, you're lying."

I put up my hands and said "Fine, don't believe me. But one more thing: you better hope you're in the same cell block or at least the same jail. Miss Loudmouth over there might have a chance but you're definitely screwed on your own."

Kelsey turned to Myra and said "Let's just do it. If we get caught, my dad's gonna kill me."

Myra replied "She's lucky that I don't enjoy spending time in a jail cell or else there'd be a funeral right now. We'll leave the loser alone but don't think this is over."

I rolled my eyes and said "As if I care what you two do. But if I catch you two doing it again, I'll make sure that you and Ella Enchanted will regret it." before I walked away.

I checked my phone. It was 7:30 am and I had an hour before my interview. I headed back home and sat down on our couch.

Mom asked "How was the walk, sweetheart?"

I smiled and answered "It was pretty good, Mom."

Mom said "Marie Isabel Kanker, what did you do?"

I looked at Mom, trying to form a look of confusion and answered "Nothing. Why are you asking?"

Mom replied "Marie, when you smile like that, you've either had something excellent happen or done something crazy. Which is it?"

I said "I haven't done anything. It's just a good day, that's all."

I probably should have known that Mom would be suspicious. But could you blame me for smiling? Lira has now one less problem to deal with, I might get a job to pay back Double D and life is a little more pleasant despite what happened yesterday. So I'll have this smile and keep it.

I said "Well, I better go now if I don't want to be late. Bye Mom, Lee and May."

Mom replied "Bye, Marie. Don't worry too much about the interview, OK? Just remember what I told you."

I nodded and left the trailer. I began walking through Peach Creek to get to the Mignon Diner, which was on the outskirts of town. I got a few looks from kids at school, but why would I care what they think?

After 50 minutes of walking, I got to the Mignon Diner. I checked my phone one last time. It was 8:20 am. I had a little bit of time to spare so I went inside and sat down in a chair with the other interviewees.

The woman next to me looked at me and said "You seem pretty young to be getting a job."

There's no way I'm telling some strange lady about my debt to Double D so I just replied with "My family needs the money."

The lady gave me this look of pity and said "This town is going through a hard time when a young adolescent girl has to make ends for her family."

Part of me wanted to scream or slap her while another part of me wanted to cry and hug her.

I made a compromise as I smiled at her and replied "It's fine but thank you for your concern."

Not long after that, the owner peeked his head out of the office door and called "Amelie Denhart."

Amelie said "That would be me." as she went inside the office.

After ten minutes, she came back out and said "Well, that wasn't as simple as I thought. Good luck, kid." before she left.

OK, now I was worried. If a lady like her who probably has a ton of experience found that interview hard, then it's going to be hell for me.

The other six interviewees were called in one by one. Their interviews took about five to ten minutes, for the most part. A few were shorter, like two or three minutes and a couple were longer.

I thought '_With the way this interview seems to be going, I'm going to have to do my best._'

The owner peeked his head out of the office door, looked at me and said "Marie Kanker."

I got up with a confident smile on my face and went inside the office. The owner, Mr. Ronari was sitting in a chair behind a desk while his wife, the co-owner was standing next to him.

Mr. Ronari asked "Hello, Marie. So let's start the interview. Why do you think you should get the job?"

This came as a train wreck to me. I was excepting a series of questions asking about my experience, references, stuff like that. A straightforward question such as the one Mr. Ronari asked put me into mild shock.

I snapped out of my shock and replied "I'm sorry, what do you mean, Mr. Ronari?"

Mr. Ronari answered "Marie, there are seven other applicants for the waiter/waitress position. All of them are older than you with more experience and effort. What differs you from them?"

I took a deep breath. I couldn't risk screwing this up. Even if I don't get the job, I could at least feel better about it if I managed to do a good response.

I answered "I'm different from the other applicants because I show effort and determination to work hard as a waitress. I have good social skills and am great in mathematics. I also want to get this job so that I have money for my family, for myself to save for college and also to help a friend who's currently in the hospital."

The mathematics thing isn't true. I did OK on a few of the tests but other than that, I'm not that great at it. The college thing isn't exactly true either. I'm not even sure if I'll be in high school this fall. College is the last thing on my mind.

Mr. Ronari smiled and nodded before he said "Well, that's the end of the interview. We'll contact you in two or three days to tell you if you have the job. It was nice to meet you, Marie." and shook my hand.

I shook his and replied "Likewise, Mr. Ronari." before I left the diner.

I checked my phone. It was 10 am and I still had to see Double D at the hospital. Thank God it's only a fifteen-minute walk there.

As I sat in a chair next to his hospital bed, I took out my camcorder and turned it on.

I said "According to the nurse, Double D woke up out of his coma last night, thankfully. He has a broken arm and a mild concussion. He's been sleeping for a while so there isn't going to be any interview today. Lira's also come out of her coma and she's awake." before I turned off the camcorder and put it back in my pocket.

I headed out of Double D's hospital room to let him sleep in peace and quiet. I noticed Bertha nearby with a relaxed smile on her face. She saw me and walked over towards me.

Bertha said "I believe this belongs to you." before she handed me Pandora.

I was surprised. I thought that she would want nothing to do with or be angry at me after what happened yesterday. But I guess not.

I asked "Why are you giving this back to me?"

Bertha answered "It was yours to begin with. Besides, have you ever heard of Pandora's Box?"

I nodded and replied "Yeah. Why is that important?"

Bertha said "Pandora released many bad things into the world but she also had one good thing: Hope. You are Lira's Hope just like she is yours."

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><p><strong>That was a good chapter for me and one that's long overdue for you! Anyway, happy 4<strong>**th**** of July!**

**Benny: (wearing a red, blue and white cat) Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light-**

**It's OK, Benny, you can stop with the singing now.**

**Benny: (takes off the hat) That's a relief. I was going to mess up during the second verse anyway.**


	10. Day 9: Home Sweet Home

Stepping Stones chapter 10

**Me: Here we are! Another Sunday, this time with Double D!**

**Benny: Don't sound so enthusiastic. You still have 4 chapters left of this mess to do and that's if you don't choke like you did this time.**

**I guess that's the ironic part. Double D's now awake and coming out of the ICU. Oh wait, that means I just answered to a comment.**

**PhoenixVersion1: I suppose you could say it's a filler chapter but some of the plot points in that chapter will become relevant soon.**

**Benny: That's code for when he finds a use for them.**

**Thanks for the interruption, Benny. Anyway, no, I didn't say that Double D was in the ICU. I probably should have but I must have forgotten.**

**OK, so read and review, everyone!**

* * *

><p>The sun brightly shone through the glass window in my hospital room, to the point where it was practically blinding. Oh well, that sounds slightly trivial compared to what I've been through the past two days.<p>

After the accident, I apparently lost consciousness for a short while and woke up the next morning with throbbing pain in my arm. My scalp was hurt as well. It turned out that as a result of the car accident, my arm is broken and I had gotten a mild concussion.

The doctors had put a cast on my broken arm. The only relief is that it was my right arm that was broken and I write with my left arm. My mother and father came to the hospital shortly after I had awoken out of my coma. They were relieved to see that I had only minimal injuries.

The nurse had told me that Marie had come by to see me yesterday while I was sleeping. I appreciated the fact that she took the time out of her busy day to visit me even if I was unable to enjoy it or tell her this at the time.

I am being released from the hospital this morning and I'm currently waiting for my parents to arrive so that I can change my clothing and my release can be finalized along with seeing about what's going to happen with me in the future.

Nurse Cromwell walked into the room as I looked up from my hands. Out of all the nurses in the ICU, I'll admit that she is my favorite due to the fact that she seems to care about the patients. Of course, all nurses do but Nurse Cromwell manages to take an extra step to please patients. Speaking of patients, I wonder how Lira is doing.

I thought _'According to the nurses, Marie was almost crying yesterday. The guilt she feels about this must be affecting her very much.'_

Nurse Cromwell said "Hi, Eddward. Your parents should be arriving soon and it's nice to see that you're healing."

I replied "Hello, Nurse Cromwell. As nice as that may sound, I'm not fully healing. My arm will be in a cast for a while and there's also my concussion. However, those are also minor setbacks. How is Eustace doing?"

Nurse Cromwell answered "Eustace is fine. He has been complaining but he does that every day, of course. His doctors say that he should be released in a week or two but we'll see how that goes."

Eustace is a particularly troublesome patient in the pediatric ward of the hospital. I've never actually seen the fellow but from what I've heard, he's very popular with the staff, just not in the traditional sense. According to Nurse Cromwell, he's recovering from a severe bout of indigestion. I haven't paid much attention to him or the hospital gossip because I've only been here for two days and I respect other people's privacy.

After an hour, my mother and father arrived with a change of clothes. I put on a green sweater and a pair of black sweatpants. They were relieved that my actions were minimal and while they weren't happy that I went into traffic, they did say that they would have done the same thing as me at that time.

Mother said "Alright, Eddward, we just have to talk to your doctor and then we're going to take you home." as my father smiled at me.

Doctor Fan came into the room, wearing his white doctor's coat and carrying a clipboard and a plastic shopping bag. He has been my doctor for the duration of my stay in the hospital. He's calm, stern and straight-forward.

Doctor Fan said "OK, Eddward, you're going to be released. I just need your parents to sign a few things. Now, Eddward's arm should heal in about three to four weeks. I'll be prescribing codeine for the pain in his arm and head and I recommend that Eddward should return back in three weeks to see how the injuries are. If there are any problems with the medication or the arm or the concussion, please bring him back." before he gave a clipboard and a pen to my mother and father.

Each of them signed their signatures on a sheet of paper before Doctor Fan handed the plastic shopping bag to my mother. It had a container of codeine for me.

Mother said "Thank you, Doctor Fan and Nurse Cromwell."

Doctor Fan responded with "You're welcome, Mrs. Kelner."

We left the hospital and got into our car and my dad drove us home. On the way there, I thought about the project and Marie. Counting today, we had five days left to do the project and we had to make up for the lost day since I was asleep when Marie visited me yesterday.

I thought '_Speaking of Marie, I wonder how she's doing. Maybe I do feel more than just a simple tolerance for her. Much more than the calm indifferent and happiness that I have been.' _as we pulled up in front of our house.

Mother, Father and I got out of the car and went inside. Our house is only two stories and it isn't all that glamorous compared to the rest of the neighborhood or the homes in some of the other suburbs but it was home.

I took two codeine with a bottle of water and headed up to my room. I made a label titled "Codeine" and put it on the container before I put the container on my desk. I originally planned to go on my rarely used red bike and ride to the trailer park to find Marie but she apparently decided to find me first.

About twenty minutes after I took the pills, I heard the doorbell ring. I walked downstairs, thinking that it was most likely Ed or Eddy. I opened the front door and saw Marie, in a red T-shirt and black shorts, standing on my porch.

I said "Hi, Marie. I suppose you're here to do the interview. Erm…come in." as she walked inside and I closed the door.

Marie replied "Yeah, I am. But I also thought that I'd see how you're doing. I came by the hospital yesterday but you were asleep."

I said "Yes, the nurses told me you came by. Mother, Father, this is Marie Kanker. She's my partner for my English project."

Mother asked "Hello, Marie. I'm Mrs. Kelner. How are you?"

Marie answered "I'm good, thanks. Your house looks a lot bigger on the inside."

Mother replied "Yes, that's what most people say when they come in for the first time."

I said "Well, I'll be coming upstairs to my room with Marie so that we can do the project."

Father responded with "That's fine, Eddward. Just remember that we're having lunch in 2 hours." before I walked with Marie up the stairs to the second floor.

As we went into my room, Marie looked around the room. It was slightly spacious but other than that and the labels, it was like any other room in the house.

Marie took out her camcorder out of her pocket and turned it on.

She asked "Are you sure you want to do this? You can just interview me if you want. I don't think Parker is going to complain about one being missing anyway, after what happened on Friday."

I answered "Yes, Marie, I'm sure. You should interview me first and then I'll interview you."

Marie asked "Why do your parents have so much sticky notes for you telling you to do chores?"

I answered "My parents wanted me to learn the concept of hard work and responsibility. My mother came from a strict, middle-class family where she had to do chores and my father had to do chores and other forms of labor when he was younger as well. He had gotten his first job when he was 14."

I thought '_He was only a year older than I am now. Of course, he nor my mother expect me to have a job now._'

Marie looked like she was thinking too before she asked "What nationality are you?"

I was slightly confused and answered "I'm American. I apologize for interrupting you but I already said this."

Marie sighed and responded with "I meant your family history. Like your mom, your dad, grandma, grandpa…"

I replied "My mother's family is from Romania via Poland, France and Canada and my father's family is generally from England. Technically, that means I'm Romanian-Polish-French-Welsh-English-Canadian-American. Of course, that's a lot to say out loud so I just consider myself an American."

I thought '_I never thought about my heritage before. At least, not in such vivid detail._'

Marie asked "Do you dance, sing or play an instrument?"

I answered "No, I don't dance or sing. I haven't played an instrument before and I don't have much of an interest in making music."

Marie asked "Speaking of what you're good at, what about sports? You did do good in dodge ball last week."

I thought '_I didn't even think that she would bring that up. As long as I don't have to talk about the incident, I guess this could go well._'

I answered "No, I'm not very good at sports. Also, like I said last week, there were other people on my team that did well. I'm merely decent at it."

Marie frowned and said "You seem pretty modest there, Double D. Almost like you're hiding something."

I thought '_Well, it was bound to have come up sooner or later. Besides, the only ones that will see the project, at worst, is only 30 people._' before I took a deep breath and exhaled.

I replied "I am just decent when it comes to dodge ball. However, there was a time when it wasn't always that way."

* * *

><p><em>It was another game of dodge ball and of course, I was picked last. My family moved to Peach Creek when I was four but due to school zoning laws, I didn't attend Peach Creek Central Elementary until the third grade. This left me at the unruly, suburban Riverdale Elementary. I was eight years old, shy and quiet but happy to learn.<em>

_It was second grade so I only got slightly teased by my peers. The older kids, on the other hand, were merciless. The Dodgeball Incident itself was a culmination of a few weeks of mocking, teasing and bullying. We had to share gym class with the fourth graders, something unheard of at Peach Creek Central but common at Riverdale._

_They split us into two teams, second and fourth graders mixed together to make things fair. The red rubber balls went flying as soon as the whistle blew. I just tried to stay in the back behind the taller kids and dodge. My teammates weren't too happy with my actions._

"_Come on, Turtle Boy! Get up and throw!"_

"_Stop squatting and move it, shorty!"_

"_If we lose because of you, Kelner, you're dead!"_

_Some of the older kids called me Turtle Boy because they thought that my hat made me look like a turtle. I had been wearing it since I was a toddler so to me, the hat was normal. To them, it just made me more strange and alien and more of a target._

_A fourth grade boy, Thad Logan, pointed to me and shouted "I'm coming for you, Peanut! Just you wait!"_

_Others called me Peanut because even among second graders, I wasn't exactly tall. Ironically enough, the fourth and fifth graders used that name more than they did._

_Most of the second graders on both sides were gone at that point with the exception of me and two other boys on my team. Almost all of the fourth graders on my side were gone too and only some of the fourth graders on the other side had gotten out. _

_A confident, popular fourth grader, Kenan Brice, threw a dodge ball at Thad. He caught it and then threw it at a second grader, who didn't expect the attack. It was 2 to 6 now. I was practically shaking because I knew that even with Andrea Capini on my team, I was going to be the main target._

_Maybe that's why they went for him first. I wouldn't see it coming and it would make me even more fearful. I pitied and sympathized with him as the ball made contact with his chest very hard. He walked off to the bench, groaning._

_I felt like a deer in the headlights at that moment. It was just me against 6 tall, strong ten-year-olds. I wasn't very good at ducking and throwing was out of the question. The only other option was catching but good luck avoiding getting hit by 7 dodge balls all at once._

"_I told you I was coming for you, Peanut!"_

"_Let's just get the little nerd out already. He's shaking like a dead bird."_

"_Yeah, let's end this!"_

_8 dodge balls all came towards me as I tried to run to the other corner of my side of the gym. It didn't work. I got pummelled with dodge balls as the six kids laughed and cheered along with their team mates. A few of the kids on the other team looked at me with sadness, sympathy and pity. Most of my teammates looked at me with shock, anger and disappointment._

"_Way to go, Kelner."_

"_You were supposed to dodge, Turtle Boy! What the hell was that about?"_

"_You better watch out when it's lunchtime because you're gonna get it, Peanut."_

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><p>I finished with "My parents weren't very happy with what happened. They went to the school and complained to the principal. He said that the school zones were to change at the end of the year and to wait until then. The rest of second grade was the worst school year that I have had to date. The summer between second and third grade was when the school zones changed and my home was zoned for the schools in Peach Creek. I chose to go to Peach Creek Central with Ed and Eddy for third grade."<p>

Marie looked at me with shock and sympathy.

Marie asked "I hope you don't mind me asking but why do you have to wear the sock hat anyway?"

I answered "I appreciate that you decided to ask if I minded first, Marie, but that's a question that I most likely will never answer."

Marie said "OK, you can interview me now." as she turned off her camcorder and put it back in her pocket.

I picked up my camcorder off of my desk and turned it on. I sat down on my bed and pointed my camera at Marie.

I asked "If you had to either give away something you hold dear or live as a homeless person, which would you choose?"

Marie answered "I'd live on the streets. I would end up being poor and hungry but at least I'd have the things that I love."

I asked "Where does your family originate from?"

Marie answered with a smirk "Trying to turn my own question back on me, huh? My dad's family is Irish, Portuguese and something Eastern European or Asian that I don't know. My mom's family is Greek, Russian, English and Ukrainian with some Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli. Apparently, there was also some Native American on my mom's side. She said that's why Lee, May and I are fighters." before she chuckled.

I thought '_We seem to be opposites in terms of our heritage. My family seems to come from two places while hers come from many different countries.'_

I asked "How do you view your parents?"

Marie answered "Mom's great on most days when she's not shouting at me to wash the dishes or to clean my room. She's a good cook and advisor and she's always been there for me. Butch, on the other hand, isn't that great. He told my mom how he loved her and how he was going to start a family with her and things were going to be better. Then he ran off in the middle of the night with all of our money and never contacted us again. That's part of why we moved to Peach Creek and the trailer park. Butch took all of our money, Rod was always away so Mom had to work small-time jobs which didn't make much and we barely had any money by the time we moved. Hell, the only reason Butch is even trying to connect with me is because of his new wife. She has more brains than he does."

Marie continued "I mean, I don't really like her either but she's just like Mom in this case. Either I go over to Fonhaven and visit him once a month or he comes to the trailer park and visits me once a month. Not that I want to visit him or that lady."

I asked "On that note, how was life like before you moved here?"

She replied "It was OK. Things were good even after Butch left. We were always clean and there was always food on the table. We had a few friends at the schools we went to but for the most part, we were loners and that's how we liked it. We just weren't cut out to be social butterflies."

I turned off the camcorder and put it back on my desk before my mother knocked on my door.

I said "Come in." and my mother opened the door.

Mother replied "Hi, Eddward. We're about to have lunch. Is your friend staying to eat?"

I looked at Marie as she answered "Yes, thank you for the offer, Mrs. Kelner. What are you having?"

Mother answered "Chicken with broccoli." as she headed back downstairs.

I said "They most likely ordered Chinese food. That's actually rare but seeing as I just came home, I guess I should have expected it." before I smiled.

Marie also smiled, a small and shy smile, but a smile nevertheless.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I've been doing some thinking for the past few days.<strong>

**Benny:*scoffs* That's a first.**

**My original goal with this story was try to have it finished by the end of the year. Despite me being busy for the next two months, I still stand by that goal. I will try my best to have completed the 14****th**** chapter by New Year's Eve. Of course, I have to tackle the next 3 chapters first. **

**Also, in news about my other stories: I plan to do a sequel to Vampire Street by March of next year. Here's hoping that I could do that and since some readers have been asking about the Purgatory, I'll either do an ending to that when I have time or make a separate one-shot that will act as an ending.**

**Benny: You already made an ending for the Purgatory, you idiot.**

**Yeah but not one that tied everything together.**

**Benny: That's how endings normally are. You should know that, having written how many stories?**

**Anyway, I'll try to have chapter 11 up by Halloween.**

**Benny:*wearing a Grim Reaper costume* I'll bet you won't be able to do it, as per usual.**


	11. Day 10: Judgement

Stepping Stones chapter 11

**Ah, the eleventh chapter! I can't believe that I didn't manage to get it out by Halloween.**

**Benny: Anyone could have told you that, you moron. How much more of this mess are we going to have to take?**

**No need to worry, Benny. We just have three more chapters and I'll probably put the epilogue either this month or in the next few months, depending on when I get the fourteenth chapter done.**

**Lord Siravant: That's probably true but I've forgotten about that episode. This story isn't'100% canon, anyway so I'm not sure if it would make a total difference.**

**PhoneixVersion1: I guess it might have been. To be fair, though, the rest of chapter was in past tense and I think only a few sentences were in the present so there's that. **

**On to the story!**

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><p>Monday. The one day that I think everyone can agree as being the worst day of the week. You've just had an awesome weekend and you have to go through four more days of boring school before you can have another one.<p>

My morning started OK. That is if you call having a tub of ice water poured over you OK.

I screeched, opening my eyes to see Lee and May holding a huge, empty bucket. I looked at my alarm clock and it was seven AM. Great, these two decided to let me sleep in for an hour and then dump water on me.

I shouted "Seriously? We're gonna be late, Lee!"

Lee grinned and replied "Well, ya looked like a Sleeping Beauty so May and I decided to let you have your beauty rest."

I said "Yeah, at the risk of us all being late…again."

Lee shrugged and responded with "Anh, like every other day is different. Besides, May and I had a surprise for you."

I got out of bed and glared at the two of them. My look was a mix of anger and curiosity. On one hand, I'm going to be late for the first time in weeks, maybe even months. Mom thought we were making progress and now she's going to be pissed. On the other hand, she was already doing that before the whole regulation thing and even during it. Besides, I'm kinda interested in what Lee and May have done. At worst, they probably burnt one of the rooms.

I asked "Can I change my clothes? They're-you know…wet."

May shrugged and answered "We might as well, Lee. Some of that water got on us too."

She and Lee left the room to go into their separate ones and I got changed. Today was an "I don't care" kind of day so I just put on the first thing I saw in each drawer. A short-sleeved, white graphic T-shirt, a black jacket and a pair of blue gym shorts with my black Converse. Not the best outfit but I dress more for comfort than style anyway. I'm not a stuck-up popular girl like that Nazz chick.

I went out of my room and saw Lee and May standing by the stairwell, with smirks on their faces. OK, now this was starting to get weird and creepy.

Lee said "OK, May, put the blindfold over her. Marie, just sit tight and relax. You'll see the surprise soon."

May then put some kind of blindfold over my eyes. I probably should have said something or taken the thing off but I was curious to find out what was going on because under these circumstances, this wasn't normal.

So they leaded me down the stairs and then down another flight of stairs.

I asked "Where are you two taking me?"

May answered "Stop asking so many questions, Marie. Your surprise is right…here." before she took off that stupid blindfold.

To my shock and surprise, it was our basement which actually looked great. Considering that the place looked terrible the last time I was down there, this was an improvement. It had three rooms, all painted different colors and with graphics, images and logos on the walls. They were even furnished with lots of stuff.

I said "There's no way Mom managed to do this. It's way too expensive for her to do."

Lee replied "Well, lover boy paid for most of it. All of it, actually. Even did some of the work himself."

That creep Leonard managed to do this? I don't know whether to feel shocked that he had even come inside the house for once, disgusted that Mom would consider him the best option to decorate this place or admittedly slightly impressed that he did a decent job. Probably all three.

Anyway, I have no time to gape at all the supposedly "nice" accessories.

I thought '_I'm already late as it is. No point on getting on Ansler's bad side by showing up late to Science or not showing up at all.'_

I grabbed my backpack, went upstairs and shouted "Are you two coming or what?"

Lee shouted back "Hold your horses, Marie! We still gotta eat something. We're not in a rush to get there."

I sighed and thought '_Ah, she has a point. I'm already late as it is so it won't make much of a difference to Ansler, anyway._'

I went into our kitchen and cooked scrambled eggs with some bacon that Mom had brought at the grocery store in town a few days earlier. Lee's not the only Kanker sister who's good at cooking. I just don't do it much since I never really had to.

I shouted "Breakfast is ready, ladies!" before I put the eggs and bacon onto three plates and then quickly sat down to eat mine. When Mom isn't around, the breakfast tradition is first come, first serve. The last one to make it is very unlucky in that regard.

Lee, of course, got to the table next. She sat down in her seat and began eating her food and May's, too.

I chuckled and said "You know May's gonna kill you when she comes up here."

Lee responded with a grin "Yeah but she would probably die trying."

May came upstairs a few minutes later. She frowned and groaned when she saw the empty plate at her seat.

Lee smirked and said "Hey, you know the rules, May. First come, first serve."

I grinned as I replied "Yeah, May, everyone in the trailer park knows Lee's a glutton."

Lee rolled her eyes, responded with "Shut up, Marie." and punched my arm lightly.

May grabbed a bowl, a spoon and the box of Frosted Flakes with a frown on her face. Meh, I felt a little sorry for May but at least she still got to eat something.

I thought '_Today, I'll have to interview Double D at lunch. This project is almost over so I'll have to hope that everything else was good._'

After we ate our food and put our dishes in the sink, we had grabbed our backpacks and headed out the door to school. I put my earphones on, listened to "Centuries" by Fall Out Boy and shoved my hands in my pockets. This may be a long walk and where we lived wasn't exactly a great place.

May asked "Lee, how's your English project going? That Chang kid is kinda weird but I wrote a story about him."

Lee answered "That Dalgaard guy seemed like a freak but this stupid project is gonna be over in a few days so I'm not worried."

I said "Yeah, it looks like you two got the short straw while I'm cuddling with my beautiful boyfriend." with a joking smile on my face.

Lee rolled her eyes and responded with "Yeah right, Marie. Like you're going to be doing any cuddling when you have to spend time with Butch this weekend." before she smiled mischievously.

I replied with a sour glare and a frown "Ugh, don't remind me. Fonhaven's a dump and visiting him's bad enough. I can't imagine living there with his oh-so-perfect family."

I thought '_I almost forgot about having to go to Butch's until Lee reminded me. So much for my good mood this morning._'

May said "Do you think Mom's going to have a new boyfriend?"

Lee answered with a raised eyebrow "Why do you think that?"

May responded shyly and quietly "W-Well, she seems to be spending a lot of time with Leonard lately."

I said "No way. I'd rather live with Butch in his terrible condo than that weirdo. Besides, Mom just pities the loser."

I know I sounded confident there but there were little seeds of doubt in the very back of my mind. What if May was right? What if Mom is starting to fall in love with Leonard? What if they get married? What if Mom decides to move in with Leonard? I'll lose my home, my somewhat comfortable life, the possible job and most of all, Double D.

I shook my head as I thought '_No, that's not going to happen, Marie. You're just being paranoid now. You need to stop that._'

Soon, we arrived at school and went our separate ways. Not to our lockers but to our classes. May headed to Spanish and Lee and I went to our Science class. It was 8:45 so I was about to walk into Science with only fifteen minutes left in the class.

I waved my hand in front of the classroom door as if I was one of those ladies on the Price Is Right and said "Would you like to do the honors?"

Lee smiled and answered "I'd be pretty to." before she loudly opened the door and we walked into the classroom.

Ms. Ansler was our Science teacher and not the nicest one we've had. She's not a total pushover but she's the other extreme- you're worthless to her unless you're one of her favorites. That's probably why she's one of the unpopular teachers in school. Behind that wavy blonde hair, calm and soft blue eyes and gentle demeanor was a cold, manipulative, heartless lady.

Ms. Ansler said in her southern, thick-as-syrup accent "Nice for you to join us, girls. Lee, you can sit in front of me and Marie, you can sit right next to her."

Lee scoffed and went to our usual seats at the back of the room. I followed her because there was no way I was going to give any respect to a teacher who once mocked a disabled girl just because she felt like it.

Ms. Ansler scowled and continued "I don't know if you two happen to be hard of hearing all of a sudden but I said for you two to sit right in front of me so I can watch you two deliquents."

Huh, what do you know? That comforting southern accent is suddenly gone. Figures. Just because you lived in Georgia for four years when you were a kid, Ms. Ansler, it doesn't make you southern. Then again, it doesn't matter where she's from since she has the personality of Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter.

Lee said "We heard ya, Ansler. Marie and I just don't care. Isn't that right, Marie?"

I replied in a fake, snobby English accent "Why, yes, Lee. After all, Ms. Ansler wouldn't be able to fantasize about Mr. Cohen and concentrate on us at the same time."

The entire class laughed at that. Mr. Cohen is a seventh-grade math teacher here and he's pretty ugly, to be blunt. He has a crush on any female thing with a pulse so he tries desperate and stupid methods to get a date. Once, he liked our English teacher, Ms. Sheldon, so he dressed up in this gaudy suit and left her daisies on her desk before class. She was allergic to them and when she found out who left them, she was both flattered and furious. We were laughing then too, not because of the allergy but because she hugged him and then reamed him out afterwards in front of all of us.

Ms. Ansler's face turned a shade of red that I don't think I've ever seen on anyone before. The closest thing was this dark shade of red I saw in a computer animation.

Ms. Ansler opened her mouth to reply but before she could, Lee smirked and said "I think you broke her, Marie."

I shrugged and replied "Yeah, I guess her tiny brain is struggling to catch up with her heart."

Ms. Ansler shouted "Lee and Marie Kanker, sit down now! Oh, and I hope you two don't have anything important to do because you're going to spend your lunch time with me along with afterschool for detention for two weeks."

Lee frowned and responded with "You can't punish us just for being late. I should go to the principal about this."

Ms. Ansler seemed to calm down pretty fast because she replied with venom "Do you want to make it a month, Lee? I have no problems with that since I have nothing to do after school for the next month."

I probably should have made another joke there but on the other hand, it could have made things worse.

Ms. Ansler continued "Now you're going to sit down in the seats in front of me and stop interrupting the class. Oh, and I want to speak to you both after class."

A resounding "Ohhh" and some laughter came from the rest of the class. Yeah, they all think what she's doing is funny until it's their turn. Whatever, I don't even have time to pretend to care about Ansler.

We went through the next ten minutes of the class with Ansler's eagle eyes watching us every other five seconds like we're going to suddenly steal the desks or markers when she's not looking. Judgmental witch. She was saying something about chemical reactions and weather patterns but I actually wasn't paying attention. What did you except, I'm not like Double D.

At the end of the class, all of the other kids picked up their backpacks and began to leave the classroom. Lee and I went to follow them, of course but Ms. Ansler closed the door after the last kid left. I'm not going to get expelled for trying to run out of this room or for her actions.

Ms. Ansler said "You two may think just because where you two are from that you could show up late and disrupt my class. You are very wrong in that case. Also, Lee, do you think Principal Sanders will believe a 14-year-old rebel who has seen the inside of the principal's office more times than I have? You and your sister aren't going to do anything because I'll simply say I didn't do anything and disprove it with your own actions. My record speaks for itself, girls, and so do yours."

I replied "Just because you're a teacher doesn't mean that you could threaten kids and get away with it."

Ms. Ansler responded with "I didn't threaten anyone, least of all you two. I simply gave you a month's detention during lunch and afterschool for being continuously late and disrupting my class."

Lee said "You said it was two weeks and you just threatened us! You're not going away with this."

Ms. Ansler just smirked and replied "I'll be seeing you at lunch, girls and don't think that you can run away. I know where you two groupies hang out around here."

Lee and I left the classroom, slamming the door very angrily on the way out.

I thought '_I can't believe that Ansler can threaten us and get away with it! There has to be some kind of rule or law against it._'

I went to the rest of my classes and did my work quietly and sullenly. I raised my hand and answered questions a few times but not a lot. Soon, lunch time came around and we were told to report to Ms. Ansler's classroom for our detention.

Lee asked "Hey, Marie, are you heading to Ansler's torture chamber?"

I answered "Are you kidding? I have to do my interview and even if I didn't, I have better things to do than to be held captive by a manipulative, lying sociopath. Let me guess, you're cutting detention too?"

Lee smirked and responded with "We're Kankers, Marie. Since when did we follow the rules?"

I smirked back and headed to the boiler room to have my interview with Double D. I took my camcorder out of my backpack and turned it on while I waited for Double D. A few minutes later, Double D came running down the stairs to the boiler room before he panted.

Double D said "I'm sorry I'm late, Marie. I had to do an errand for Eddy and I lost track of the time."

I shrugged and replied "It's fine. OK, I'm going to be interviewing you today. Are you ready?"

Double D nodded while I put the camcorder up with my hand.

I asked "Has there ever been an event where you regret what you did?"

Double D answered nervously "Y-Yes, there was. When I was 8, I was working on a science experiment as a birthday gift for my childhood friend. The experiment backfired, injured him and gave him facial and body scars along with cuts and bruises. He doesn't blame me but I still felt a slight amount of guilt. That's partly why I do the same experiments multiple times instead of simply once."

I took a deep breath before I asked "Did you ever get on a teacher's bad side?"

Double D answered "Thankfully, no. But I used to be moderately shy when I was younger which annoyed some of my less patient teachers since I took a relatively long amount of time to answer a question or to do something in front of the class."

I asked "Have you ever met someone and changed your opinion about that person over time?"

Double D answered "Yes, I have. There was Eddy along with Ed. Then there's you and your sisters."

I raised an eyebrow and said "Could you explain that in further detail?"

Double D sighed and answered "When we first met you and your sisters, we were afraid of you. We didn't know who you were or why you did what you did. After spending the past 10 days with you, I learned for the second time that perhaps I judged too quickly like everyone else did."

I asked "Did you ever do a bad thing, like theft or lying or anything of the sort?"

Double D answered "I will admit that I have told a few white lies in my life along with forgetting to do some of my chores to the best of my ability but other than that, no."

I asked "When is your birthday?"

Double D answered "My birthday is June 23rd but I suspect that you know that already, Marie."

OK, I'll admit that I actually did know his birthday before this. No, I'm not a stalker. His friends gave him a huge birthday present last year on the second to last day of school. That was enough evidence for me.

I raised an eyebrow and responded with "Perhaps but that's no longer a question. Have you ever been on a trip, domestic or international?"

Double D answered "Yes, I have been on trips and vacations both within and outside of the country. I've been to Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, California, Washington, Oregon, New York, Texas, Ohio, Virginia, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Romania and Ukraine."

I'm actually impressed. The furthest I've been from home was a trip to Dorney Park when I was seven. Mom took me, Lee and May and we spent the day there. Butch was already gone by that point so I tried to have fun for Mom's sake.

I sighed and returned back to reality after a few seconds. I saved my recording and turned off the camcorder before I put it back inside my backpack.

I asked "Double D, could I ask you something?"

Double D answered "Yes, Marie, what is it?"

I replied "If a teacher's done something horrible and it seems like they'll get away with it because of your reputation, what would you do?"

Double D answered "I would do my best to make sure that they faced the consequences of their actions. I do believe that teachers deserve respect from students but if they've done something unethical or possibly criminal and the student knows about it, then the teacher should be questioned and possibly punished regardless of the accuser's reputation or history."

I smiled and said "Thanks."

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><p><strong>That was chapter 11! Now, you guys are probably wondering "darkshadow, why were you away from this fanfic for three months?" That was because of school, home and other issues as usual. But I have finally managed to do it and since I'm off of school this week, I'm going to try my best to finish Stepping Stones this week.<strong>

**Benny: I somehow doubt that will happen, especially with your track record.**

**On another note, it's been a year since I started this story!**

**Benny: Yeah and your goal of completing it in a year at most is almost past the deadline. **

**I'm not sure what I'm going to do after this story since I will be busy for the next six months. So I'm just saying that in advance.**


	12. Day 11: Understanding

Stepping Stones chapter 12

**Ah, the calm of writing after a three-month writer's block feels great.**

**Benny: Yeah, to you. To most people, it probably feels uncomfortable and erratic.**

**That would be your opinion, Benny. Anyway, on to the reviews!**

**sergeant peace – Great because now I feel determined to finish this story for my readers to enjoy.**

**Benny: How much do you guys wanna bet that he won't be finished with this by Sunday? I'll bet all the money I have because it would just be that easy of a bet.**

**Oh, Benny, that's just your way of having faith in me.**

**Benny: No, it's not. I'm actually serious about that bet.**

**So let's go on to the story!**

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><p>Tuesday was usually a semi-pleasant day for me. I would be enjoying Science with Mr. Caburn and being with my friends, Ed and Eddy even if Eddy may have some sort of scheme to get money. This Tuesday, however, made me panicky due to the English project beginning to come to a close. I had a tremendous amount of work to complete over the past week besides my intriguing interviews with Marie.<p>

I woke up at 6 am like I always have since I was 3 years old. I got out of my bed before I went to straighten the sheets and the comforter of the bed. I then took a shower and put on a red T-shirt with a pair of well ironed pants and my shoes and socks. I combed my hair and then I put on my hat, making sure that all of the strands of my hair weren't exactly visible.

I went downstairs to my kitchen to find Ed and Eddy sitting at the kitchen table.

I stopped in shock and confusion while Eddy said "Morning, Double D. We're making omelets. Do you want any?"

Ed replied "Double D's become one of the zombies from Brain-Dead Ice Cream Men 3, Eddy."

Eddy responded with "Chill out, Lumpy. Double D's probably just tired." before he lightly patted me on my back.

I snapped out of my trance and answered "I'm perfectly fine, Eddy, thank you. I would be delighted to finally try one of your omelets."

Eddy then went back to the stove wearing a hairnet and carrying a spatula as he began to flip the eggs over. Meanwhile, Ed was more or less patiently waiting while I began to put napkins, forks and knives on the table.

I thought '_It was nice of Eddy to come and make breakfast for Ed and I. I do wish that they would ring the doorbell to announce their arrival, though._'

Eddy put an omelet with pork and grounded parsley on my plate and then an omelet with ham, bacon, crushed red pepper and mushrooms on Ed's plate before he finally put an omelet with pork, white pepper and cheese on his own plate. He turned off the burner on the stove and then took off his hairnet.

I picked up my knife and fork and began to slowly cut my omelet into pieces and eat it. Ed grabbed a jar of relish from my refrigerator and smeared a decent amount of the relish onto his eggs using a fork. Eddy, meanwhile, took out a bottle of Heinz ketchup from my refrigerator and squeezed a small amount of ketchup on his eggs. I was admittedly nervous initially about Ed and Eddy demolishing my kitchen making breakfast but I became comfortable over time with Ed and Eddy using my kitchen on occasion to make breakfast as long as they don't make a mess and clean up afterwards.

I was also nervous about what may occur at school. Marie was concerned yesterday about a teacher possibly threatening her. Did she get into an argument with a teacher? Did a teacher threaten her or someone she knows? I didn't want to seem overbearing or intrusive so I didn't inquire any further into the issue.

I thought '_I shouldn't worry too much about everything. Things are going to go well today and I should simply keep calm and carry on, like Winston Churchill said._'

I asked "Eddy, are you ready for another excellent day of learning?" with enthusiasm.

Eddy rolled his eyes and answered sarcastically "Yeah, Sockhead, being forced to sit down in a chair and be lectured and taught by annoying teachers for 7 hours is my favorite thing to do."

I sighed and said "It's nice to see your enthusiasm today, Eddy. Well, gentlemen, are you ready to go to school?"

Ed replied "I am ready as a bug being wrapped in a rug, Double D!"

I began to wash the dishes and utensils in the sink with soap, water and a sponge. We actually used to have a dishwasher when I was younger but it broke down when I was 6 and we've been washing dishes by hand ever since. I probably still would have washed the dishes by hand even if we had a dishwasher, anyway.

I thought '_OK, Double D, think. Do you have everything that you need? Pencil case with pens, pencils, eraser and pencil sharpener? Check. Notebooks and folders? Check. Calculator? Check. It seems that I do have everything._'

I picked up my backpack while Ed and Eddy picked up theirs and we went on the relatively short walk to school. Ed and Eddy were engaging in their usual daily banter while I was thinking about my classes. Report cards were going to go out in two weeks. Did I go good in all of my class? How did I do in Physical Education? What could I improve on for the next marking period? Questions like those ran through my mind.

Eddy said "Hey, Sockhead."

I responded with "Yes, Eddy?"

Eddy asked "What was our Math homework?"

I smiled slightly and answered "It was pages 271 to 273, problems 4 to 56 but you had to do the multiples of 4."

Eddy said "The multiples of 4?"

I replied "4, 8, 12,16, 20,24,28,32,36,40,44,48,52 and 56."

Eddy nodded, wrote the numbers down in his Math notebook and said "Thanks, Double D. I'm gonna do them all at lunch. The last thing I need is my folks getting angry at me for failing Math."

I was about to reply when I noticed that we were approaching the school so I merely sighed and looked at Eddy with a curious glance.

Eddy responded with "Hate to disappoint you but that doesn't mean I'm turning into a nerd, Double D."

I said nothing as we went into the school and Ed replied "Are nerds only purple, Eddy?"

Eddy replied "We're not talking about candy, Monobrow."

I walked to my locker and put in my combination: 3-14-15. The approximation of pi, which I'll admit was slightly ridiculous but the only other combination that I could think of was my birthday. I took out my Social Studies textbook and put it inside my backpack before I took out most of my textbooks, notebooks and folders and put them into my locker.

I then walked to my first class, Social Studies with Mr. Farena. He was a moderately strict teacher who liked to entertain and educate his class at the same time but also made sure that the students wasn't out of control in the class. I opened the door and walked quickly inside.

I said "Good morning, Mr. Farena." as I calmly walked to my seat.

Mr. Farena replied "Good morning, Eddward. OK, class, we'll be going over the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries today. Please take out your textbooks and notebooks. I'll be putting the Aim and Do Now up on the board soon." as he turned around to write the Aim and Do Now on the whiteboard.

I sat down in my seat in the middle of the class, with about three or four students that I don't know very personally. Ed was two rows ahead of me, smiling and taking out his textbook. Eddy was in the back of the classroom and I believed that he was actually yawning. Whether it was real or fake, I could not tell. Nazz, Rolf and Kevin were in this class as well.

I took out my textbook along with my notebook and yesterday's homework and put it on my desk. I opened up my notebook and wrote the lesson's Aim and Do Now in a page before I answered the Do Now.

Mr. Farena said "Now, we're going to discuss the early nineteenth century where the War of 1812 occurred and the Age of Reform in the 1830's. Does anyone want to answer our Do Now?"

Several students raised their hands, including me. Mr. Farena looked around the room.

Mr. Farena asked "Yes, Eddward?"

I answered "If I was living in the early 1800's, I wouldn't be advocating for war against Great Britain because the United States were a newly formed nation at the time and not very strong militarily."

Mr. Farena responded with "Thank you, Eddward. Are there any other answers?"

He looked around the room again with only four or five students reluctantly raising their hands up. He noticed Eddy snoring in his seat and sighed.

Mr. Farena went to the back of the room and lightly tapped Eddy on the shoulder. Eddy then woke up and looked around the room in confusion and possibly embrassment.

Mr. Farena said "Eddy, since you seem to be paying so much attention that you've fallen asleep, why don't you give us your response to the Do Now?"

Eddy answered "Sure, Mr. F. I would have wanted us to go to war with the UK because they weren't respecting our country or our customs and military."

Mr. Farena nodded and said "Does anyone else want to say their responses?"

The class went by somewhat quickly with a lesson on the War of 1812 and the Compromise of 1820 and as we began to pick up our backpacks and leave the classroom, Mr. Farena stopped us.

Mr. Farena shouted "Class! Please stay so I could hand back your tests! When I call your name, come up and take your test! Eddy! Nazz! Noah! Shawn! Rolf!"

He handed each student their last exam which had their grade written and circled at the top of the paper in red ink.

He shouted "Eddward!" as he handed me my test.

I replied "Thank you, Mr. Farena." as I slowly walked out of the classroom and looked at my test.

It was a 98. Considering how I had done last year with social studies, it actually wasn't a terrible score. Most people would be eternally grateful to get a 98 on a test. I was fine with it. I wasn't sure if my parents would be but I think as long as I don't fail, they're fine with whatever grade I fail.

I thought '_I wonder how Ed and Eddy did on the test. Well, there's no time to dwell on that now. I need to get to my next class or else I'm going to be late._'

I went through the rest of my class with my typical calm resolve and answered questions, asked questions and also did several problems among other things. Things were going well and then lunch had begun. I needed to find Marie so that I could interview her. Usually, we discuss the location and depending on the day, time of where we're going to conduct the interview the day before. However, we were incredibly busy yesterday so the place to meet and conduct the interview wasn't stated or even selected by either of us. Chances were that I would find Marie in the boiler room but that chance itself would bring with it the risk of encountering May and Lee. I don't know what would happen if that was the case.

I cautiously and slowly started to walk towards the boiler room with fear and confusion racing throughout my body. I passed by many of my schoolmates on the way there, some discussing sports, video games, fashion or some other exclusively relevant topic. I felt like I may be heading towards Death Row instead of discovering where my interviewee was at the moment.

I soon arrived at the entrance to the boiler room and nervously opened the door and began to descend down the stairs. I looked around as I noticed that nobody was there, apparently.

I thought '_Strange. The Kanker sisters seem to spend most, if not all of their free time here to the point where hardly any other student has stepped foot down here. What event would be so greatly important that it would cause them to actually leave the boiler room?_'

I said "Hello, is anybody here?"

Somebody replied "I'm here, Double D. No need to shout."

It was Marie, sitting quietly in a corner of the room with a sketchbook. I didn't know she was deeply interested in the visual arts but I suppose you could learn something new every day about a person.

Marie said "So I guess you want to do the interview now?"

I nodded and took the camcorder out of my backpack before I turned the camcorder on.

I asked "Do you see yourself as an introvert or as an extrovert?"

Marie considered the question for a brief moment before she answered with "Neither. I'm the type of person that always wants to be around people but at the same time wants to be around only a few people or by myself."

I wrote that answer down along with the question in my English notebook before I asked "Do you believe in things such as an afterlife or a heaven or a hell?"

Marie sighed and responded with "If you're trying to secretly ask me if I believe in God, Double D, then I'm just going to be blunt and say it's complicated. Maybe I positively did once upon a time as a little kid but when you grow up in a poor family that almost constantly moves around and almost nobody to help you, you don't look up to God. You look up to your parents, siblings, maybe even an older kid or teacher. I haven't gone to church on a regular basis since I was 6. What about you?"

I replied quietly "I'm an agnostic atheist. I don't know if there is a God or if a religious and powerful figure ever actually existed outside of the Bible or mythology. Of course, there's no way to tell so I guess nobody knows for sure."

I asked "If you could give yourself any name, what would it be?"

Marie smirked and answered "It would be Cleo Alexandra Jackson. Cleopatra ran Ancient Egypt, Jackson was my grandma's maiden name and Alexandra sounds kinda cool."

I asked "If you could live during any time period, which one would it be?"

Marie answered "The Roaring Twenties. The movies and books make it sound so amazing and luxurious that I'd actually want to live during that time."

I asked "If you could choose the high school you could enroll in, which high school would you decide on?"

Marie answered "Probably one with a bunch of smart people like you or maybe a place that focuses on technology, art or music."

I asked "Have you ever tried to wrong a right?"

Marie raised an eyebrow and answered "Yeah. When I was 9, this old lady who lived down the street hated me. I shoveled snow from her driveway one winter afternoon. The work took me all day and I didn't get to play with my friends or my sisters. She gave me five dollars as payment when we agreed on ten. Rather than complain to my mom, I dumped the snow I shoveled back on her driveway and threw snowballs at her house. One of them hit a window and something else."

I saved the video of today's interview and turned the camcorder off.

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><p><strong>That was chapter 12! Twelve down, only two to go! <strong>

**Benny: Like you're actually going to be able to finish this story by tomorrow or even the end of next week.**

**So tomorrow's the Super Bowl (49, for those of you who are counting) and chances are everybody's going to gorge themselves watching the game as usual.**

**Benny: (wearing a Seahawks cap and jersey) Yup, Patriots are probably going to win.**

**So why are you wearing Seahawks gear in that case?**

**Benny: Ever heard of irony?**


	13. Day 12: Focus

Stepping Stones chapter 13

**Ah, chapter 13! Time flies fast when you're trying to finish a story!**

**Benny: You're just trying to cover up your laziness with this. You're starting to look even more desperate, you know.**

**So now I'm going to reply to some of the comments.**

**thewhitefan – Yeah, I'm going to try to finish this fanfic this month even if it kills me.**

**BritishSNL (chapter 1) – Thanks, I'm glad it interests you.**

**JasonVUK- Thanks. I guess my creativity is working overtime.**

**Benny: I find that hard to believe considering everything.**

**Guest – Well, that part about Benny would be hard to answer. Yeah, I noticed that in the archives, every second or third story was KevEdd. I wouldn't have really cared if it wasn't for the fact that the pairing itself just seemed mismatched with no basis. But there will always be unusual pairings in fanfics so I guess I can't complain.**

**PhoenixVersion1- Maybe but you'll see in this chapter.**

**Benny: Only you could manage to sound both unappealing and boring at the same time, darkshadow. Also, note that he gave a non-answer.**

**Anyways, the epilogue should be up by April 11th, in any case. Granted, that is if I finish chapter 14 by Wednesday but that shouldn't be too hard.**

**Benny: For you, it definitely is.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

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><p>I lied down in bed last night, thinking about the interview and what Double D asked me. To be honest, I haven't thought about my feelings on religion in a long time and I don't want to. Maybe it was because it was a tough and sensitive subject for my family, my mom in particular. Maybe it was because I had been through so much that I no longer cared what people thought about my views.<p>

It was 6 am as I slowly sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes. Wednesday was the middle of the week and a day that fit everybody's like and dislike. On one hand, it means you're one step closer to the weekend. On the other hand, you still have to go through three more days of school/work/whatever. I don't know what to make of Wednesdays. They aren't soul-crushing days like Mondays or joyful and uplifting days like Fridays, they're just odd.

I got out of bed and went to take a shower before Lee or May could run inside and lock themselves in there for the next two hours. The warm water ran through my hair as it turned from slightly warm to freezing cold.

I thought '_Damn, somebody must be using hot water for something in the house somewhere._'

I turned off the water and got out of the shower to dry myself off. I then went back into my bedroom and got changed. It seemed like another "I don't care day" for me so I put on a long-sleeved, black polo shirt along with a blue hoodie and a pair of jeans and of course, my pair of black Converse. I headed downstairs to get breakfast since Mom must have gone to work early.

I grabbed a bowl, a box of Cinnamon Toast Church, the milk carton and a spoon and sat down at the kitchen table. I wasn't really that hungry but I knew that if I didn't, Lee or May would likely make me eat something. I poured the Cinnamon Toast Crunch and the milk into my bowl and began to slowly and reluctantly eat as May and Lee walked down the steps, tired and coming out of their sleep.

I said "Morning, May. Morning, Lee."

Lee replied "Come on, girls. We gotta get ready and fast."

I raised an eyebrow and responded with "If that's true, then why are you still wearing your pajamas and why is May wearing some weird striped hat?"

The two of them looked at them and headed upstairs to shower and change while I kept eating. I thought about school and how things have been lately. I had recently gotten the waitressing job at the Mignon Diner. It paid nicely and my coworkers were OK but I also made it clear to both my coworkers and my bosses that I was only going to work temporarily. Maybe two months at most but if I work during spring break, it should be only about a month. I currently work about four or five hours on weekends.

I'm still kinda concerned about Ansler, though. She once made this disabled girl so stressed that the girl started to cry then she mocked the girl who snapped and then she sent her to Principal Sanders. Honestly, she's just a teacher who's a manipulative sadist and drunk on power. Lee, May and I would personally be glad to see her taken down a few pegs.

I finished eating my cereal and then washed the bowl and spoon and put them back in the cupboard. May and Lee came back down the stairs, this time actually not in their pajamas. May was wearing that weird hat again, though, but I didn't care.

I asked "Do you two wanna eat here or at school? It's 7:20 am and since our first class is Science, I might as well stick around until 9."

Lee answered "Leonard's supposed to be driving us today. May, go outside and tell him to wait some, OK."

May replied "Are you serious, Lee?" then sighed but went outside anyway.

None of us liked having to deal with Leonard but I get a free ride to go to school late and an excuse for Ms. Ansler, Degree in being a Psycho so I'm not about to complain.

I looked down at the blue patterned cloth on the kitchen table as I said "Ready for Science today?"

Lee scoffed and answered "No but I doubt anybody else is, either. If we're lucky, Ms. Crazy went and got herself committed."

I replied "Like that will happen any time soon. She's way too much of a narcissist to accept that she has a problem."

Lee smirked and said "Using big words now, are we?"

I grinned and responded with "Does saying committed ring any bells, Miss Kanker?"

May came back inside and she said "He said he'll wait for as long as he has to."

I replied "He's really trying to suck up to Mom."

Lee responded with "If that's true, then he seems to be doing a great job at it. Mom said that she's going out with a friend from work this weekend. Who do you think it is?"

May replied "She's going out with Leonard?"

I thought '_Why am I only slightly surprised? Oh yeah, that's because he's been over here a lot lately. But maybe we're just jumping to conclusions. She has a lot of friends at her job so she could be going out with any of them._'

I said "Maybe but who knows for sure? For all we know, it could be one of her other coworkers. Just because he sometimes gives us rides to school doesn't mean that Mom's in love with him."

Lee took out two waffles and put them into the toaster oven before she took out a fork, knife, a bottle of maple syrup and a stick of butter. May, on the other hand, took out the box of Frosted Flakes along with a bowl and spoon and poured a really large amount of cereal into the bowl.

Meh, her life, her food, her choice. Besides, we do eat a ton of food sometimes. Of course, that usually ends in us lying down in our beds with stomachaches and having to take Pepto-Bismol.

I sat back down in my chair with my arms behind my head and my legs crossed over one another and my right leg on the table. I was just waiting for these two to finish so we could get to school. Like I said before, none of us are in a rush.

Lee said "Yo, Marie, did you do that project for Spanish?"

I answered "I think I did. It wouldn't matter anyway. Mr. Harrison said it was only worth fifteen percent of our grade."

Lee chuckled and said "Then I sure ain't doing it. It's due today but what's the point?"

I shrugged and thought _'I might have to agree with her on that one. Fifteen percent wouldn't make a huge enough dent in our grades to make Mom upset. Either that or Lee is planning something.'_

I sighed and replied "Yeah, maybe. So how's your project going?"

Lee answered "That stupid project Miss Parker gave us? It's kinda boring but a farm ain't so different from this. We already have pigs running around the trailer." before she looked back at the trailer door.

May shouted from the other side of the kitchen "You know I can hear you, Lee!" before she glared at Lee.

I thought '_Yep, I can already tell that this is going to be a really fun day._' with obvious, dripping sarcasm.

I checked my phone. The time was 7:40 am and if we didn't hurry, we would be late for sure. On one hand, missing school with a legit reason would be great. On the other, Ansler already hates us and coming home with an F on our report cards is the last thing we need right now. Hmm, decisions, decisions…

I asked "OK, so how long are we gonna be here for?"

Lee answered "Probably until 8:20. By the time we get to school, Science will be over or just about over so Her Royal Hideous can't punish us."

I rolled my eyes and responded sarcastically with "Yeah, that's why we're spending lunch and our free time with her for the next two weeks."

Lee snorted and said "As if I'm gonna actually come and be stuck in a room with Ansler for four hours every day."

I replied "Neither am I. I have more important things to do than Ansler." before I decided to go down to the basement.

I wouldn't say this out loud, especially not to Leonard but the basement is actually pretty cool. There are some beanbags, a couch and even a TV and some gaming consoles. Lee and May are wondering just how Leonard could afford to do this, considering the only things he owns are a small condo in the "cash-poor" part of town and his old dark red Corvette. The current theory is that he's secretly a millionaire who has a mansion in the Hamptons, a large yacht in Miami and several vacation homes all over Europe. I personally think they might be giving him a little too much credit but whatever.

I sat down on a blue-purple beanbag and turned on the TV. We couldn't afford to pay cable and we barely afforded to pay satellite before Mom cancelled the package. However, Leonard sprung for the cable so we now have local channels plus the usual cable channels and some movie stuff like HBO, Starz and Showtime. Yeah, I'm starting to think that maybe the girls might be on to something.

I started flipping through the channels with boredom and apathy. Let's see, ABC 7, NBC, CBS, that boring local channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, USA, AMC. Three to four hundred channels and there is nothing good to watch. Then again, it's 8 am so I shouldn't be too surprised. I turned the TV off, got up and dusted some lint off of me. After that, I headed back upstairs.

Lee was frowning as she put on her jacket along with her backpack. May was actually doing the same thing. What was going on?

I said "I thought we weren't leaving for school until 8:20."

May answered "Leonard doesn't want us to be late so he's making us leave now."

I scoffed and replied "A little too late for that." but I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulders.

Leonard said "Come on, girls. You're going to be late." as we walked outside to his car.

We groaned but we just got into the backseat. Something told me that Leonard wasn't just going to allow us to stay home. It turned out that I was right.

Leonard said "Alright so I think we should talk about this."

May replied "Talk about what?"

Leonard responded with "I understand school might not be easy for you three but that doesn't mean you girls could skip school whenever you want."

Oh and here I was, thinking that he was actually going to blow up at us. Instead we just got the same thing that teachers and social workers have been telling us for years. Besides, it's not like we didn't do it before.

Leonard continued "I promised Susan that I would make sure you three don't end up in trouble and whether you like it or not, I'm going to stick to that promise. That starts now. We're going to the school and you three are going to go straight to class."

I thought '_I already do that four out of five days in the week. It doesn't make a difference anyway._'

Lee interrupted when she said "What did you mean, school might not be easy for us? We're not dumb, you know."

Leonard calmly replied "I didn't call you or your sisters dumb, Lee. I'm just saying that you might have trouble in school but you shouldn't run away from it."

That's easy for him to say. He's not the one who teachers glare at almost every period. He's not the one who kids point at and make up rumors about. He's not the one who gets mocked for actually wanting to go to school. Maybe that's part of why we have the hard shells that we do. As some old timey, dead guy whose name escapes me once said "It's better to be feared than loved." We are definitely feared at school but certainly loved at home.

Leonard continued "Have a nice day at school, girls. Please just make sure that you go straight to class, OK?" as we pulled up in front of the school.

As we got out of the car, May murmured "OK" quietly.

Lee scoffed at him and I said "Yeah, sure." as Leonard drove off.

I looked at Lee and May and said "We're not actually doing that, right?"

Lee grinned and answered "I don't know about you or May but I'm wondering how Ansler's coping in Science."

Yep, same old Lee. But I'm still not sure why she's in such a hurry to get to Science, even if it is just to mess with Ansler.

I shrugged and replied "I might as well join ya. The only other thing I would be able to do is walk around school, bored." as the three of us went inside the school.

May headed off for Spanish as she said "Bye" to us.

Lee and I then went to Science. It was 8:25 so we still had thirty-five minutes left in the class. For me, that was thirty-five minutes too long. But Lee just looked tired and bored as we headed to the classroom and quickly opened the door. There was no use in trying to be quiet and sneaky because people would still be looking at us so we didn't bother doing it that way. To at least my surprise, there was a thirty-something lady looking nervous with long brown hair sitting on the edge of Miss Ansler's desk.

The lady said calmly "You must be Lee and Marie. I'm Ms. Dunford, your substitute teacher."

As Lee and I headed to our seats, I asked with curiosity "Where's Miss Ansler?"

Ms. Dunford answered "Ms. Ansler is taking the rest of the week off to recover from a sickness she gained."

Lee scoffed and muttered to me "Yeah, a little something called a reality check."

I couldn't help it but I smirked. Could you blame me? Ansler was gone for a while at the very least. It was like a dream come true but I admittedly wasn't totally enthusiastic. I never had Ms. Dunford before so I didn't know anything about her. I didn't know her teaching method, how rough she was on kids, policy on eating or cellphones. That kind of stuff.

Ms. Dunford said "So we're just going to talk about some interesting aspects of science. Steve, you were talking about rockets."

Steve replied "Yes, Ms. Dunford. I just think that maybe we could do more with rockets than we actually think. I mean we've already managed to get men on the moon and survey images of Mars. What about getting a rocket to have people land on it? Maybe colonization?"

Amy Warlton answered "How would we do that? We don't even know if it's safe for people to go there, let alone inhabit it."

Ms. Dunford asked "Now, guys, let's see if anyone else has anything to say on other topics. Lee, Marie, what about you two?"

I thought '_Hey, Ansler's not here. I might as well try to do something while I'm in here._'

I shrugged and answered "Chemicals. People just mix them together with no clue about what happens."

Randy Thoms replied "Well, how else are they going to find out things? We got cures for diseases because people decided to test chemicals in certain situations."

Amy Warlton replied "Chemicals could also be used for harm. What about the atomic bombs that were dropped in World War II?"

Lee fake yawned and said "That was 70 years ago. Besides, mixing together chemicals could make us discover stuff."

Ms. Dunford started to say something but then the bell rang. Apparently, it was already 9 am. As the other kids gathered their stuff and began leaving the classroom, Lee and I did the same.

I asked "Did you know anything about Ansler being out?"

Lee answered with a smirk "Maybe someone slipped a piece of paper into Sanders' mailbox. Maybe somebody gave irrefutable evidence against Ansler."

I said "I figured that you had something to do with it. How did you do it?"

Lee answered "Remember that lunchtime and afterschool detention Ansler gave us? I went after school yesterday and tricked her into threatening and blackmailing us again. Only, this time, a little tape recorder was recording it all for the world to hear. I slipped it along with an anonymous note about the blackmail in Sanders' mailbox and the rest is history."

I asked "Do you think they're gonna fire her?"

Lee shrugged and answered "Who knows?"

I went through my next three classes with the usual calm, ease and relaxation that I have. I remembered that I had to meet Double D at lunch for the interview in the field behind the school. I was certainly glad when lunchtime came, of course.

I headed for the field, taking my camcorder out of my backpack and shoving it into the pocket of my hoodie. I arrived at the field to see Double D sitting quietly and patiently on a tree stump. I stood up not far away from him and turned on the camcorder.

I said "Hey, Double D."

Double D replied "Hello, Marie. You could start the interview whenever you're ready."

I asked "Do you have any fears?"

Double D took a deep breath and answered "Messiness, but not to the level of OCD. I also have a fear of having my hat taken off and a fear of physical pain."

I asked "Do you have any strange talents?"

Double D answered "I'm not sure what constitutes as strange in this case. I could identify any species of insect, count up to the 35th decimal point of pi and speak six languages. Those would be English, Spanish, French, Italian, German and Irish."

I said "Ah, a man after my heart. Do you see the glass as being half full or half empty?"

Double D answered "I see the glass as being half full."

I asked "What is your favorite author?"

Double D answered "J.D. Salinger if you mean classic stories. Stephen King if you mean more modern stories."

So Double D likes Catcher in the Rye and Cujo. I'll have to keep that in mind for his next birthday.

I asked "Are you a feeler or thinker?"

Double D answered "Honestly, both. It would be hard to lean on one side as most people would have to find an equal balance."

I saved the interview, turned off the camcorder and put it back into my camcorder.

Double D said "That went rather well."

I replied "Yeah. It's a shame that the project is almost over."

Double D responded with "Perhaps but it shouldn't damper your spirit."

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><p><strong>Ah, so that chapter is done! Just one more chapter to go and I'm definitely not giving up on it.<strong>

**Benny: Right and maybe the sky is red.**

**Anyways, I haven't updated this story in a few months due to school and other life issues. I will probably be busy for the next few months too. But I plan to get this story done by mid-April and I'm sticking to that plan. After that, I will try to do another story which will be decided via poll.**

**Benny: Yeah, like most of his decisions.**

**Anyways, the Final Four is this weekend! Good luck to all four teams. Even though my guess is the final will be Wisconsin against Michigan State.**

**Benny: Mark my words, it will be Kentucky and Duke.**


	14. Day 13: Spirit

Stepping Stones chapter 14

**The last chapter! I feel both fulfilled and unhappy at the same time.**

**Benny: That figures knowing you.**

**OK, so I'll respond to a few comments.**

**JasonVUK – Yeah, it's this chapter and then the epilogue and then it's over. No, there won't be a sequel since I think the story is going to be ended as good enough as it will be.**

**sergeant peace – Thanks. Unfortunately, as some say, the bus is getting near the end of the line.**

**Anyways, enough of my depressing speech! Enjoy and please review!**

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><p>I sat up in my bed as I slowly rubbed my eyes. As I looked at my clock, the realization dawned on me that the time was 6:30 am and that I had only an hour to get ready for school. I hurriedly but slowly got out of my bed, carefully and smoothly made it before I went to take a shower.<p>

I remembered that my English project with Marie was due tomorrow and that today would be the last interview.

With a fleeting pang of sorrow and a slightly longer lasting feeling of calm, I thought '_At the very least, things turned out well. So we both managed to benefit from the past two weeks which is something that I can honestly say is great._'

I put on a green T-shirt with a blue hooded sweater, a pair of gently ironed pants along with my socks and shoes. I finally put my hat back on as the gradual fear and despair hurriedly left my body and comfort replaced those emotions. I walked downstairs to enter into my immaculate kitchen.

In there, I found a yellow Post-It note taped to the refrigerator door. As I removed it, I noted the slowly written words in Mother's clean and cursive handwriting.

The note read "Eddward, we know that this is our day off but your father had to work on an emergency and I had to put in yesterday's balances at the firm. Your breakfast is on the top shelf of the fridge. – Mother".

I had almost forgotten a crucial detail. On a certain Thursday during the month, both Mother and Father would take the day off so that they could spend time with each other and with me. Their schedules are not only vastly different but hectic as well and they rarely get a chance to see one another or even me during the week. I was saddened but I wasn't angry at them. What could be the source of my anger? My parents having to do the basic principles of their occupations? Getting furious over that would be petty and ridiculous.

I opened the refrigerator door and noticed a plate wrapped in plastic wrap on the top shelf. The bottom of the plate was still warm so Mother must have left only a short time before. I took the plate out of the refrigerator and put it down on the kitchen table. I removed the plastic wrap to find three large pancakes which had a piece of butter on the top along with three sausage links which was most likely beef or a mix of pork, turkey and chicken. I did like pancakes but they weren't my favorite meal or even my favorite breakfast. However, it's been a long time since I had the honor of a homemade breakfast from Mother and Father so I took out a bottle of maple syrup and poured it over the pancakes. I then cut the pancakes into pieces and began to slowly eat the pieces of pancake.

I thought '_I should remember to thank Mother when I next see her. This is a rare occasion, indeed so I should savor this._'

I also ate the three sausage links and drank half of a bottle of water. I then washed the dishes, dried them and put them back into their correct places. I went back upstairs to brush my teeth in the bathroom. I did so before I walked back downstairs to my living room. I looked at the time on the clock which said 7:20 am.

I put my backpack over my shoulders and put my house keys into the pocket of my pants. I then opened the front door and coolly closed it shut with almost no noise. I began the moderately short walk to school on my own as chances were I would encounter Ed and Eddy on my way there. I was in fact right with that prediction as the two greeted me not long after I started walking and the three of us went to school together as we normally did.

I asked "Eddy, what grade did you receive on Mr. Farena's exam?"

Eddy answered "I got a 79. My parents weren't too happy about it but at least I'm not failing nothing. What about you, Double D?"

I replied sheepishly "I got a 98 on the test."

Eddy smiled, patted me on my back and said "Nice job, Sockhead."

Ed shouted with a smile "Eddy, you and Double D have conquered the Desert Ridge of Sardonia!"

Eddy replied "For the last time, Ed, Sardonia isn't a country. Even I know that stuff. The other kids, on the other hand,…" as a grin began to form on his face.

I said "Eddy, may I suggest that we not risk incurring the wrath of the other cul-de-sac children?"

Eddy sighed and responded casually with "No problem, Double D. Besides, knowing those suckers, it would be way too easy to do something like that."

I raised an eyebrow and inquisitively remarked "Isn't that the exact reason why you would pull a scam like that, Eddy?"

Eddy responded with "Of course, Double D. That's what the other kids would think, too and that's why I'm not doing it. I actually like to have a challenge once in a while."

I began to make a reply to that before I realized that we were in fact close to the school so I made a small smile and walked inside the school. Ed and Eddy followed me as we continued to speak about school, Eddy's previous scams and comic books.

In English, I entered the classroom quietly and hurriedly so that I could get into my seat without any interruptions or issues. I sat down in my seat as Marie turned around to speak to me.

Marie asked "Hey, Double D, when are we doing the interview?"

I answered "I think that the boiler room at lunchtime is an adequate place to hold the interview."

Marie replied "Yeah, that could work."

I took out my notebook and pen with a sense of relief. Perhaps things were simply getting better and I had neglected-or had been reluctant- to notice that. I wasn't completely sure.

Ms. Parker entered the room with a calm smile on her face as she faced the class.

She said "Good morning, everybody! As I'm sure you are aware, your projects are due tomorrow. I will collect your poems, short stories, monologues and footage at the beginning of the period. No, Mike, that means that saying that your dog drooled on your project won't be acceptable. You'll just have to make another copy." as Mike Albert slowly lowered his hand down.

Ms. Parker continued "Yesterday, I asked you all to read a certain excerpt from the story "The Red Rose" by J.C. Cummings. All of you may have had a different excerpt based on the group you were in. Your job was to do a reenactment of this scene while adding your own original flair to it. Nazz, Lauren, Kevin and Rolf, you're up first."

Nazz, Lauren, Kevin and Rolf got out of their seats and walked to the front of the classroom. It was at that moment that I noticed that Nazz was wearing a cream-colored poet shirt while Kevin had removed his cap and combed his hair. Apparently, they had put a specific amount of effort into their appearance for the reenactment.

Nazz cleared her throat and said "Our excerpt involved the main character, Balthasar who was mourning the death of his childhood friend, Morgan. His best friend, Wilmaer, tries to reach Balthasar as does Balthasar's sister and lover to no avail. Kevin will play Balthsar, Rolf will play Wilmaer, I will play Judith, Balthasar's lover and Lauren will play Catherine, Balthasar's sister."

Kevin said "Oh, my heart pounds and grieves for the dear loss of Morgan. How his valiant efforts against the dreaded Tories has led him to an early grave."

Rolf responded with "Fear not, Balthasar, for our dear friend Morgan, soldier and general of the Nordic Army, fought hard and long against those wretched Germans. Come with us, Balthasar, for we shall have a toast to Morgan's great sacrifice." with his heavy accent accentuating all of his words.

I thought '_Their reenactment seems fine so far. However, I don't exactly see a twist in the story or anything else. There's changing Morgan into a soldier for the Norwegians but other than that, nothing._'

Lauren said "Wilmaer is right, Balthasar. Why should we mourn for Morgan any longer when he would have wanted us to be happy? He would have wanted us to celebrate his memory in living our lives to the fullest."

Kevin replied with fake tears running down his cheeks "Oh, Catherine, how innocent and unaware are you? Morgan had fought for the honor of you and thousands of others and we must repay him in drinking ourselves ill? You three may do that if you like but I shall keep my honor and dignity whole."

Nazz responded calmly with "Balthasar, we must move on from this. Morgan's death, as tragic as it was, was a sign of the heroics of the Nordic Army. Speaking of which, do you not leave for Highmont this forthcoming Saturday?"

Kevin replied "No, I shall not, Judith. Morgan was killed fighting for those Nordics. I shall not resign myself to the same fate. I will leave for Violetfay in Obrgal tomorrow evening." before the four sat back down in their seats.

I had to admit that they had a slight flair in that they changed Morgan's backstory significantly. Unfortunately, that appeared to be the only change apart from that change's integration into the storyline.

Ms. Parker said "That was very good, Group 1. Lauren, you may need to show more confidence, perhaps in your posture. Mike, Eddy, Chang, Peter, you're next." as those four people made their way to the front of the classroom.

I thought '_I am indeed interested in seeing this particular reenactment. Eddy could act but I'm not sure if he will show it. The same goes for Mike, in fact._'

Peter said "Our excerpt showed Balthasar after he engaged in combat with his younger brother, Calvin. This was after Calvin attempted to attack Balthasar's lover, Judith for rejecting his advances. Judith and Wilmaer attempt to calm him down. I will play Wilmaer, Mike will play Calvin, Chang will play Judith and Eddy will play Balthasar."

Eddy took a deep breath before he angrily shouted "Who do you think you are, Calvin? Did Mother and Father not teach you better than to attack a woman? I won't tolerate this, not you hurting my beloved Judith."

Mike's indifferent frown turned to a sneer as he got into character and replied coolly "Mother and Father did in fact teach me not to attack a woman, Balthasar. However, they said nothing about attacking a low-class tramp. Even if her allegations are true, who could prove it?"

Eddy stepped forward with his hands balled up into fists as he hotly responded with "I can and I will, Calvin. You have gone too far this time. I could forgive the sabotage of Morgan but this is unforgivable."

Mike pretended to spit on the ground as he said "I can speak the same for you, Balthasar. I cannot believe that my dear older brother can go to bed every night with a peasant from Deerhedge."

Eddy pretended to lunge at Mike while Peter held him back by his arms.

Peter calmly said "Do not rise to his words, Balthasar. You know your brother's trickery. He is only wanting to cause trouble so we shall not satisfy his needs. Come, Judith needs comfort."

Eddy gritted his teeth and pretended to ignore Peter before he responded with "Speak one more word, Calvin. Brother or not, I will kick you out of the Eagles myself. Think about it. Your power and influence will be gone."

Mike rubbed his chin and then smirked as he replied "No, that's fine. Go to your tramp, big brother. After all, I know when and where I am not wanted." before he stood apart from the other three.

Eddy thrashed in Peter's arms and removed his hands, dusting himself off. Chang pretended to sob at that exact moment.

Eddy walked over to Chang and put his hands on her chin before he said "Judith, are you alright? Ignore Calvin, you know he's had a rivalry with the Deerhedge Hawks since he was a mere fledgling."

Chang pretended to wipe away her tears and answered "We all know that what Calvin spoke was true, Balthasar, even if we refuse to admit it. My birthplace precedes my reputation as much as your surname precedes yours. Nothing could change that, Balthasar."

The four began to walk back to their seats as Eddy smirked at me. I sighed and smiled at him.

Ms. Parker said "That was great, Group 2. I didn't see as much of a flair as I wished that I had but it was a good reenactment nevertheless."

At that moment, the bell rang and the students began to pick up their backpacks and leave the classroom. I had done the same as I remembered and realized that I was in Group 4 with Lucas, Kelly, Charlie and Noah. We would have presented our reenactment today if there was time left in the period.

I followed Marie to the boiler room as I took my camcorder out of my backpack. I wiped it off with my sweater as I put the camcorder into the pocket of my sweater. Marie opened the door to the boiler room before the two of us descended down the stairs into the boiler room.

Marie sat down with her legs crossed over each other while I sat down on a plastic chair and turned on my camcorder.

I asked "Are you ready to begin the interview, Marie?"

Marie nodded and answered "Yep, let's do this."

I asked "What is your favorite song?"

Marie answered "Angel by Aerosmith. I first heard it when I was 7 years old at Butch's and it has been my favorite song ever since."

I asked "If you could use any flower to describe yourself, which flower would you choose?"

Marie responded with "A rose. They're long, thorny and dangerous. Plus they're magnificent and unique."

I asked "What's one thing you can't seem to do any right on?"

Marie answered "Sports. Mom doesn't blame me for my grades too much and Butch doesn't care but when I was little, if I missed a flyout in baseball or screwed up a shot in basketball, Butch would be irate. Nearly yelled at the top of his lungs one time. Mom appeared more saddened and disappointed. But that could have been more at Butch's behavior than my lack of talent in athletics."

I asked "If you had the chance to meet any celebrity in the world, who would you pick?"

Marie answered "I would pick Hailey Williams if only because she sounds so interesting and down to earth."

I asked "What are your feelings on your reputation?"

Marie answered "When I was like 6 or 7, it sucked because kids mostly avoided me or were terrified of me. Parents and teachers used to glare at me and I would think what I did wrong. Now I don't even give it a second thought. I could change my reputation and it might take a long time but I will probably keep trying. That doesn't mean that I'm gonna be a total good girl overnight, Double D."

I asked "What's your motto in life?"

Marie answered "There will always be loose bricks in a tower. It's your job to make them stay. I can't remember where I heard it, maybe in elementary school or at the store, but it's always stayed with me."

I saved the footage and turned off the camcorder. Marie stood up and sat down in a plastic chair with her legs crossed.

I said "So this is our last day of the project."

Marie replied "Yeah. Honestly, it sucks. I've been connected to you for nearly 2 weeks and now it's all going to be thrown away."

I responded with "Maybe not, Marie. Maybe not."

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><p><strong>That's the end of Stepping Stones (unofficially)! So hopefully, Wisconsin is winning right now.<strong>

**Benny: I bet you Duke is crushing them which says something because I don't like Duke.**

**You don't even like sports, Benny. You just hate that I enjoy them.**

**Benny: Whatever helps you sleep at night.**

**So the epilogue should be out by the weekend. Thanks for reading, guys!**


	15. Epilogue: Fusion

Stepping Stones chapter 15

**OK, guys, here we are, the official last chapter of Stepping Stones! Or to put it simply, the epilogue. It takes place about two weeks after the previous chapter so that's a warning. Also, it will be pretty short. Probably about 1,000 words at most. Sorry, guys, I didn't want to bore you with all of the details and I wanted to get this out on time.**

**Benny: A terrible warning but what else could you except from him?**

**Another warning is that both Double D's and Marie's POV of the events in the chapter will be shown. So expect to see lines. A lot of lines.**

**I'll respond to a comment or two.**

**JasonVUK – There probably won't be a sequel to this since I think ending it is as good as it should be.**

**Benny: You got that right.**

**Anyway, enjoy the epilogue and remember to review!**

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><p>I was with Marie at the park. It had been two weeks since the end of our project and we were getting along splendidly. We weren't dating but we were now good friends or associates if you want to say that. Our project was received very well by Ms. Parker and we both received an A for it.<p>

Ms. Parker had said that the footage showed "the reality of children's lives and the peeling away of the layers of stereotypes, assumptions and formalities that people normally conduct with".

After the project was finished, we all received our report cards. I managed to get A's in all of my subjects while Ed and Eddy did more average, getting the typical mix of C and D's with the occasional B or extremely rare A. Marie got a mix of B and C's with an A in English.

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><p>My life is overall still well as I still get along fine with my mother and father. Marie has managed to pay me back at least half of the money and I'll probably have been paid back in full by next month.<p>

On the part of my life, some things got better while some things still sucked. I was doing good at my job and I may have been able to get a recommendation after I left the Mignon Diner. Mom started to go out with Leonard. Apparently, he was the one who stood up for us in the entire Ansler situation as he helped Lee tell Principal Sanders what Ansler did.

The sad part is that makes no sense. Principal Sanders probably wouldn't have done anything if someone like Lee or I told her that but with a concerned parent asking about Ansler's abuse, Sanders was bound to listen. So Mom fell head over heels for him even more. I still think he's a creep, though.

I'm trying to do better in my classes now and with Ansler gone, Ms. Dunford is now officially my new Science teacher. She actually teaches instead of abusing the students and I think my grade has actually gone up since she took over.

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><p>I had been looking into high schools since I received my report card. Although I did like Midlin Ridge, the exclusive prep school that's an hour away, I think I would rather attend Peach Creek High with Nazz, Kevin, Ed, Eddy and Marie.<p>

At least, things had gotten better in school. People were treating me slightly better than they previously had but I was still closest to Ed and Eddy, of course. That was most likely because we grew up together and had known each other for such a long time that we would always be friends.

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><p>I had been branching out and getting a little more social at school. I wasn't Miss Prom Queen but I had managed to get a few friends in the past couple weeks. Lee and May made a couple of new friends too. But we're still close with each other and we probably always will be.<p>

I still don't like Butch or having to do visits with him. But I am making a little more of an effort to connect with my half-siblings. If not for Mom, Butch's new wife or for them, then at least for myself. I'm also getting along with Butch's new wife. We share a few interests like computers and motorcycles. No wonder Butch decided to marry her since he apparently used to be a gearhead when he was with Mom.

A small stepping stone can make an entire bridge as someone said. I can't remember who said it or when I heard it. I don't even remember where exactly I heard it.

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><p><strong>And that would be the end of Stepping Stones! Curtain close!<strong>

**Benny: Finally! It's about time and now you can do something different for once…**

**Oh, Benny. Anyways, thanks for reading and don't forget to vote on the poll for my next story!**


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